σαφής

Most likely Pre-Greek. Connections to Latin sapiō can be dismissed based on the fact that ph comes from an aspirated PIE consonant.

σᾰφής • (săphḗs) m or f (neuter σᾰφές); third declension (Doric, Ionic, Attic, Koine)

1. (of something seen with the eyes, or of something understood with the mind) clear, distinct
   • 458 BCE, Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1047:

     σοί τοι λέγουσα παύεται σαφῆ λόγον

     soí toi légousa paúetai saphê lógon

     She has stopped speaking a clear word to you

   • 460 BCE – 395 BCE, Thucydides, 1 35:

     τὰ ξυμφέροντα ἀποδείκνυμεν, καὶ μέγιστον ὅτι οἵ τε αὐτοὶ πολέμιοι ἡμῖν ἦσαν, ὅπερ σαφεστάτη πίστις

     tà xumphéronta apodeíknumen, kaì mégiston hóti hoí te autoì polémioi hēmîn êsan, hóper saphestátē pístis

     we show the advantages, and the greatest is that the same people are enemies to us both, which is a very clear guarantee of good faith

2. (of a person) speaking clearly, reliable
   • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 82:

     ἄναυδος σαφὴς ἔτυμος ἄγγελος

     ánaudos saphḕs étumos ángelos

     a silent, unerring, truthful messenger

   • 429 BCE, Sophocles, Oedipus the King 390:

     ἐπεί, φέρ’ εἰπέ, ποῦ σὺ μάντις εἶ σαφής;

     epeí, phér’ eipé, poû sù mántis eî saphḗs?

     So come on, tell me, when have you been a reliable seer

• ἀσᾰφής (asăphḗs)

• “σαφής”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• σαφής in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette

• IPA^(key): /saˈfis/
• Hyphenation: σα‧φής

σαφής • (safís) m (feminine σαφής, neuter σαφές)

1. clear, explicit

• σαφήνεια (safíneia, “clarity”)
• σαφώς (safós, “clearly”)