savant

[ sa-vahnt, sav-uhnt; French sa-vahn ]

noun

, plural sa·vants [sa-, vahnts, sav, -, uh, nts, s, a, -, vahn].

1. a person of profound or extensive learning; learned scholar.

savant

/ ˈsævənt; savɑ̃ /

noun

1. a man of great learning; sage

Derived Forms

• ˈsavante, noun:feminine

Word History and Origins

Origin of savant¹

1710–20; < French: man of learning, scholar, old present participle of savoir to know ≪ Latin sapere to be wise; sapient

Word History and Origins

Origin of savant¹

C18: from French, from savoir to know, from Latin sapere to be wise; see sapient

Example Sentences

JD Vance is a brilliant savant, according to some, while other headlines call him an idiot and leave out the “savant.”

From Salon

What makes Treinen so difficult to hit is the movement he gets on his two primary pitches, an 84-mph sweeper that, according to Baseball Savant, drops an average of 40.7 inches with a 15.2-inch glove-side break, and a 94.6-mph sinker that drops an average of 27.2 inches with a 16.5-inch arm-side break.

From Los Angeles Times

Bell, 82, an acting savant who broke into cinema’s foreground in his sixties, explains that the pages are occupied by a series of questions about the character.

From Los Angeles Times

Coplan also got some big co-signs recently: The Wall Street Journal embedded Polymarket’s presidential-forecast chart on its website, and polling savant and media giant Nate Silver has purchased some equity and formally joined the platform in an advisory role.

From Slate

There is nothing fast about Honeywell’s screwball, which averages 80.8 mph and, according to Baseball Savant, features an average drop of 44.4 inches and an average left-to-right break of 8.1 inches.

From Los Angeles Times