1802, in William Turton's translation of Linnĉus, 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.