human
[ hyoo-muh n or, often, yoo‐ ]
/ ˈhyu mən or, often, ˈyu‐ /
adjective
of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or having the nature of people: human frailty.
consisting of people: the human race.
of or relating to the social aspect of people: human affairs.
sympathetic; humane: a warmly human understanding.
noun
a human being.
Origin of human
1350–1400; earlier
humain(e),
humayn(e), Middle English < Middle French
humain < Latin
hūmānus, akin to
homō human being (cf.
Homo); spelling
human predominant from early 18th cent.
synonym study for human
1.
Human,
humane may refer to that which is, or should be, characteristic of human beings. In thus describing characteristics,
human may refer to good and bad traits of a person alike (
human kindness; human weakness ). When emphasis is placed upon the latter,
human is thought of as contrasted to
divine:
To err is human, to forgive divine. He was only human.
Humane (the original spelling of
human, and since 1700 restricted in meaning) takes into account only the nobler or gentler aspects of people and is often contrasted to their more ignoble or brutish aspect. A
humane person is benevolent in treating fellow humans or helpless animals; the word once had also connotations of courtesy and refinement (hence, the application of
humane to those branches of learning intended to refine the mind).
pronunciation note for human
Pronunciations of words like
human, huge, etc., with the initial
[h] /h/ deleted:
[yoo-muh n] /ˈyu mən/,
[yooj] /yudʒ/, while sometimes criticized, are heard from speakers at all social and educational levels, including professors, lawyers, and other public speakers.
OTHER WORDS FROM human
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH human
human humane (see synonym study at the current entry)Words nearby human
Example sentences from the Web for human
British Dictionary definitions for human
human
/ (ˈhjuːmən) /
adjective
of, characterizing, or relating to man and mankind
human nature
consisting of people
the human race; a human chain
having the attributes of man as opposed to animals, divine beings, or machines
human failings
- kind or considerate
- natural
noun
a human being; person
Other words from human
Related prefix: anthropo-Derived forms of human
human-like, adjective humanness, nounWord Origin for human
C14: from Latin
hūmānus; related to Latin
homō man
Scientific definitions for human
human
[ hyōō′mən ]
A member of the species Homo sapiens; a human being.
A member of any of the extinct species of the genus Homo, such as Homo erectus or Homo habilis, that are considered ancestral or closely related to modern humans.
Idioms and Phrases with human
human
see milk of human kindness.