sentience

noun

sen·​tience ˈsen(t)-sh(ē-)ən(t)s How to pronounce sentience (audio)
ˈsen-tē-ən(t)s
1
: a sentient quality or state
2
: feeling or sensation as distinguished from perception and thought

Examples of sentience in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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In 2025, the office was hoping to tackle neuroethics — questions of sentience in brain organoids and considerations for recipients of brain-computer interfaces. Megan Molteni, STAT, 5 June 2026 Meanwhile, some in the media are wildly speculating that this is somehow magical, miraculous, or a sign of sentience. Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026 So there are a massive number of worlds out there where life could have evolved and attained sentience and spaceflight capabilities. Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 8 May 2026 In Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi’s meditative drama, three people in three different eras explore the sentience of flora, each timeline connecting to the others through a gingko tree that’s been growing since 1832 in the botanical gardens adjacent to Marburg University in Germany. Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for sentience

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of sentience was in 1839

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Cite this Entry

“Sentience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentience. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.

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