the genus of human beings, 1802, in William Turton's translation of Linnæus, coined in Modern Latin from Latin homo "man" (technically "male human," but in logical and scholastic writing "human being;" see homunculus) + sapiens, present participle of sapere "be wise" (see sapient).
Homo as the genus of the human race, within the order Primates, was formally instituted in Modern Latin 1758 by Linnaeus (originally also including chimpanzees). Used since in various Latin or pseudo-Latin combinations intended to emphasize some aspect of humanity, as in Henri Bergson's Homo faber "man the tool-maker" (in "L'Evolution Créatrice", 1907).