humane

[ hyoo-meyn or, often, yoo- ]
/ hyuˈmeɪn or, often, yu- /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR humane ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressed: humane treatment of prisoners.
acting in a manner that causes the least harm to people or animals: humane trapping of stray pets.
of or relating to humanistic studies.

Origin of humane

orig. stress variant of human, restricted to above senses from 18th century; cf. germane, german

OTHER WORDS FROM humane

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH humane

human humane (see synonym study at human)

Words nearby humane

human t-cell lymphotropic virus type 1, human t-cell lymphotropic virus type 2, human t-cell lymphotropic virus type 3, human trafficking, human-interest story, humane, humane society, humanics, humanism, humanist, humanistic psychology

Words related to humanely

delicately, politely, helpfully, tenderly, sympathetically, generously, graciously, genially, affectionately, warmly, kindly, appreciatively, agreeably, carefully, cordially, courteously, well, benevolently, benignly, charitably

Example sentences from the Web for humanely

British Dictionary definitions for humanely

humane
/ (hjuːˈmeɪn) /

adjective

characterized by kindness, mercy, sympathy, etc
inflicting as little pain as possible a humane killing
civilizing or liberal (esp in the phrases humane studies, humane education)

Derived forms of humane

humanely, adverb humaneness, noun

Word Origin for humane

C16: variant of human