Word
savant
Phoneticssa·vant
US/səˈvɑnt/
UK/sˈævənt/
Definition
n. a person who has a very high level of knowledge or skill in one specific subject. This person might also have a condition that makes them very good at one thing but not others.
n. a person of exceptional knowledge or skill in a particular field. Often refers to an individual with savant syndrome, who exhibits prodigious mental abilities in a specific area despite significant developmental disabilities.
Examples
“The young savant could solve complex math problems in seconds.”
“The museum hired a savant to catalog the rare collection of 18th-century botanical prints.”
“While the term often implies a genius, a clinical savant typically demonstrates extraordinary talent in a narrow domain, such as music or mathematics, while lacking basic social or cognitive skills.”
Examples
simple
“The young savant could solve complex math problems in seconds.”
contextual
“The museum hired a savant to catalog the rare collection of 18th-century botanical prints.”
complex
“While the term often implies a genius, a clinical savant typically demonstrates extraordinary talent in a narrow domain, such as music or mathematics, while lacking basic social or cognitive skills.”
Etymology
Borrowed from French savant, from Latin sapiō. Doublet of sapient. Sense 3 is a clipping of idiot savant, literally ‘wise idiot’.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/savant