[n9zee]

sentient \SEN-shee-uhnt; -tee-; -shuhnt\, adjective:
1. Capable of perceiving by the senses; conscious.
2. Experiencing sensation or feeling.

Sentient comes from Latin sentiens, "feeling," from sentire, "to discern or perceive by the senses."

I can remember very vividly the first time I became aware of my existence; how for the first time I realised that I was a sentient human being in a perceptible world.
-- Lord Berners, First Childhood

Answers to such profound questions as whether we are the only sentient beings in the universe, whether life is the product of random accident or deeply rooted law, and whether there may be some sort of ultimate meaning to our existence, hinge on what science can reveal about the formation of life.
-- Paul Davies, The Fifth Miracle

[Orelinde]

I don't know why but I've always liked that wor. They've used it quite a few times in Star Trek