Definition of Sentient
A word often used in theology and metaphysics to describe the precious value of all life, as in: "all sentient beings." Pronounced: sen shent, sĕn'shənt or -shē-ənt, sentients are all alive and feeling beings with conscious perception which are capable of experiencing pain and suffering.
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Significance
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The difference between a human being and a concrete wall. A human being has feelings; a wall does not. Animals are sentient beings, as well, and depending on your perspective, so might be plants, butterflies and caterpillars. Tibetan Buddhists believe that is unacceptable to cause needless pain to any sentient being, no matter how small.
Usage
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"Just as you have the instinctive natural desire to be happy and overcome suffering, so do all sentient beings; just as you have the right to fulfill this innate aspiration, so do all sentient beings. So on what exact grounds do you discriminate?"--- Dalai Lama, Head of the Dge-lugs-pa order of Tibetan Buddhists, 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, b.1935
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Origin
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Sentient comes form the the Latin word "sentient." It is the present particle of "sentire," used in today in the Italian language as the verb "to feel."
Adjective
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The American Heritage Dictionary defines sentient as an adjective, meaning: 1. Having sense perception; conscious and 2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.
Noun
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Princeton University's wordnetweb defines the noun as:
sentience (the readiness to perceive sensations; elementary or undifferentiated consciousness) as in: "gave sentience to slugs and newts"- Richard Eberhart
Synonyms
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According to Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, sentient creatures are 1. Marked by comprehension, cognizance, and perception: alive, awake, aware, cognizant, sensible; and 2. Able to receive and respond to external stimuli: impressible, impressionable, responsive, sensible, sensitive, susceptible, susceptive.
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References
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Princeton.edu Wordnetweb: Sentience
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of in and out ) (Alice / Cornelia Kopp
