Dictionary

sophont en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈsoʊfɑnt/ (US)

Etymology

From sopho- + -ont. First used in the 1966 works by Poul Anderson, coined by his wife Karen Anderson.

Meanings

1. An intelligent being; a being with a base reasoning capacity roughly equivalent to or greater than that of a human being. The word does not apply to machines unless they have true artificial intelligence, rather than mere processing capacity.
   • I'm honored to meet a sophont of the Soro line in person! 1980, David Brin, Sundiver, page 50:
   • Likewise with the psychology of intelligent species. Most sophonts indeed possess basic instincts which diverge more or less from man's. With those of radically alien motivations we have little contact. 1966, Poul Anderson, Trouble Twisters:
   • Evil, they argued, could only have meaning on smaller scales, in the hurt that one sophont does to another. 1992, Vernor Vinge, A Fire Upon the Deep, Tor Books, page 406:
   • Only one sophont appeared to be involved—and not a sophisticated one. 1997, Spider Robinson, Lifehouse, Baen Books, page 2:

Forms

Synonyms

sentient