Meanings
savant1
plural savants
- A person who is considered eminent because of their achievements.
- A person with or without significant mental disabilities who is very gifted in one area of activity, such as playing the piano or mental arithmetic.
Synonyms: idiot savant
Savant2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA person with or without significant mental disabilities who is very gifted in one area of activity, such as playing the piano or mental arithmetic.
More synonyms by meaning
nounsomeone who has been admitted to membership in a scholarly field
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinsapiō
- Frenchsavant
- Englishsavant
Borrowed from French savant, from Latin sapiō. Doublet of sapient. Sense 3 is a clipping of idiot savant, literally ‘wise idiot’.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic عَالِم
- عَالِم (ʕālim)a person of learning
Bulgarian учен
- учен (učen)a person of learning
Chinese Mandarin 学者
- 学者 (xuézhě)a person of learning
Finnish oppinut
- oppinuta person of learning
German Gelehrter, Gelehrte
- Gelehrtera person of learning
- Gelehrtea person of learning
Italian saggio
- saggioa person of learning
Polish sawant, sawantka
- sawanta person of learning
- sawantkaa person of learning
- sawanta person eminent for their achievements
- sawantkaa person eminent for their achievements
Romanian savant, învățat
- savanta person of learning
- învățata person of learning
- erudita person of learning
Spanish savant
- savanta person eminent for their achievements
Vietnamese học giả
- học giảa person of learning
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
savant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/savant
“savant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/savant. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “savant,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/savant.
Source: savant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.