WORD FOR THE DAY: SAVANT

Your word for today is: savant, n.

savant, n.

[‘ An extremely learned or scholarly person, esp. one highly distinguished in a particular field of the arts, science, or literature.’]

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈsavnt/, /səˈvɑːnt/,  U.S. /sæˈvɑn(t)/, /sɑˈvɑnt/, /səˈvɑnt/

Forms:  17 savans plural,   17 scavans plural,   17– savant,   18 savan,   18 sçavans plural. 

Etymology: <  French savant (1588 in Middle French as sçavant), use as noun of Middle French, French savant, †sçavant knowing, learned (c1120 in Old French), use as adjective of the present participle of savoir to know (information), to know how, be capable of (both end of the 10th cent. in Old French), ultimately <  classical Latin sapere to be wise (see sapient adj.).
Compare earlier sapient n. and also savante n.

In sense 2 after idiot savant n.
In the plural forms in -ns after the plurals †savans (1598 or earlier; early 15th cent. in Middle French as a plural form of the adjective), †sçavans (1634 in a work title, or earlier) of the French noun; the form savan represents an analogical singular based on English forms of this kind.
N.E.D. (1910) gives the non-naturalized pronunciation (savaṅ) /savɑ̃/.

 1.  An extremely learned or scholarly person, esp. one highly distinguished in a particular field of the arts, science, or literature.

In early use chiefly in French-speaking contexts.

1719  F. Hauksbee Physico-mech. Exper. v. 225 [He] made a Report thereof to the Royal Academy of Sciences of France; and, upon his return home, those Scavans thought it worth their while to re-examine the matter.

1765  H. Walpole Let. 22 Sept. in Corr. (1941) X. 176, I dined today with a dozen savants.

1805 Edinb. Rev. 7 232 On one of these occasions, the savants in waiting were Quintus Icilius and Thiebault.

1848  E. FitzGerald Lett. (1889) I. 189, I saw Alfred [Tennyson], and the rest of the sçavans.

1882 Musical Times 1 June 342 The death is announced, at Strasburg, of Georges Kastner, son of the well-known musical savant and composer, at the age of thirty.

1920 Ann. Reg. 1919 ii. 45 The new theory is generally known as the ‘Principle of Relativity’, and is due to the Swiss savant, Einstein.

1956  N. Coward Diary 29 Apr. (2000) 318 My plays are written for the public and not for that small galaxy of scruffy critics and pretentious savants who know little and do less.

1996 New Yorker 8 Apr. 78/1 What did the European savants of Existentialism understand about la condition humaine that Ma Rainey did not?

 2.  A person who displays an unusual (often exceptional) aptitude for one particular type of mental task or artistic activity despite having significant impairment in other areas of intellectual or social functioning, esp. as a result of autism. Cf. idiot savant n.

Sometimes with distinguishing word denoting the specific type of ability, as artistic, mathematical, musical savant.

1919  R. H. Chase Ungeared Mind p viii.  (table of contents), Savants.

1956 Amer. Jrnl. Psychotherapy 10 601 The unfailing memory including minor details which brought Dr. Elkisch to compare Stanley with the ‘idiotic savant’ might also be one of the obsessive psychotic defenses against loss.

1978 Internat. Rev. Res. Mental Retardation 9 288 The method employed by the savant is not, necessarily, the same as a skilled musician would use even if the end product is equivalent.

1989  L. K. Miller Musical Savants 157 Superficially, it would seem the savant is at a distinct advantage in comparison to his mentally retarded peers.

1999  S. Ramachandran  & S. Blakeslee Phantoms in Brain ix. 197 If you look at a drawing by [the artistic savant] Nadia, you do see creative artistic ability... but among mathematical and musical savants, there are no such examples.

Compounds

 savant syndrome n. the condition of being a savant (sense 2).

1983 N.Y. Times 12 July c 2/1 The kinds of skills associated with the savant syndrome are diverse.

1993 Brain & Cognition 23 279 A patient..with an Asperger syndrome.., who shows an outstanding ability for three-dimensional drawing of inanimate objects (savant syndrome).

2008  S. A. Gutman Quick Ref. Neurosci. Rehabilit. Professionals (ed. 2) §25. 220 People with savant syndrome possess highly sophisticated skills in areas such as music, art, mathematics, and memory

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