Percipients

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Individuals who receive or perceive sensory information from the environment
2. People who are involved in the process of observing and interpreting stimuli
3. Those who are capable of understanding or becoming aware of certain phenomena through senses

Etymology: "Percipients" is the plural of "percipient," a noun for people who take in and interpret what their senses register. The singular "percipient" comes from Latin "percipiens," the present participle of "percipere," meaning "to perceive," which itself combines "per," meaning "through" or "thoroughly," with "capere," meaning "to take" or "seize." To perceive, in the Latin sense, was to grasp something completely. The core idea, then, is one of taking hold of something. A percipient is someone who takes hold of sensory information and makes sense of it, which is why the word fits so naturally in psychology and research settings, where it marks the people whose responses are being studied.

Synonyms: recipients, perceivers, receivers, observers, witnesses