Ho·mo sa·pi·ens /ˈhoʊmoʊ ˈseɪpiənz/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[hoh-moh sey-pee-uhnz] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1. (italics) the species of bipedal primates to which modern humans belong, characterized by a brain capacity averaging 1400 cc (85 cubic in.) and by dependence upon language and the creation and utilization of complex tools.

2. humankind.

[Origin: 1795–1805; < NL: rational man] Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source Homo sa·pi·ens (sā'pē-ənz, -ěnz') Pronunciation Key n. The modern species of humans, the only extant species of the primate family Hominidae. [New Latin Homō sapiēns, species name : Latin homō, man + Latin sapiēns, wise, rational, present participle of sapere, to be wise.] (Download Now or Buy the Book) The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source Homo sapiens 1802, in William Turton's translation of Linnæus, coined in Mod.L. from L. homo "man" (technically "male human," but in logical and scholastic writing "human being") + sapiens, prp. of sapere "be wise." Used since in various L. or pseudo-L. combinations intended to emphasize some aspect of humanity, cf. Henri Bergson's Homo faber "man the tool-maker," in "L'Evolution Créatrice" (1907). Homo as a genus of the order Primates is first recorded 1797. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper WordNet - Cite This Source homo sapiens noun the only surviving hominid; species to which modern man belongs; bipedal primate having language and ability to make and use complex tools; brain volume at least 1400 cc WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source Homo sapiens (sā'pē-ənz) Pronunciation Key The modern species of humans. Archaic forms of Homo sapiens probably evolved around 300,000 years ago or earlier in Africa, and anatomically modern fossils are known from about 100,000 years ago. All humans now living belong to the subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens. The closest living relative of Homo sapiens is the chimpanzee. See more at archaic Homo sapiens, Cro-Magnon, Neanderthal. The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source Homo sapiens [(hoh-moh say-pee-uhnz)] The biological classification of modern humans. Homo sapiens is Latin for “the wise human” or “the clever human.” The earliest Homo sapiens was Neanderthal, who developed about 150,000 years ago. Sometimes modern humans are further classified into the subspecies of Homo sapiens neanderthalis (Neanderthals) and Homo sapiens sapiens (Cro-Magnons and present-day humans). (See Linnean classification.) [Chapter:] Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/anthropology/v1007/2002projects/web/homo/homo.html#sapien

http://www.awesomelibrary.org/Classroom/Science/Anthropology/Evolution/Homo_Sapiens.html