Etymologically
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human

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈhjuː.mən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English humain (also humayne),[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French humain (“of or belonging to man”),[2][3] from Latin hūmānus (“of man, human; humane, kind”),[2][3] related to homō (“man, human being”).[3][5][6] Etymonline traces it in part to Proto-Indo-European *dhghem- (“earth”), so that a human being was an “earthling” as opposed to the gods, though the sound changes are not settled;[2] Klein compares humus (“earth”).[5] The same root gave Old English guma (“man”), which survives only in bridegroom.[3][2] It is related to humane, humble, homage and homicide.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or belonging to man: probably about 1450,[3] or the mid-15th century.[2] Hoad and Merriam-Webster date the word to the 14th century.[7][8]

Semantic evolution

At first human and humane were the same word, used interchangeably until the 18th century,[9] when humane was limited to the senses “kind, compassionate”[9][7] and human kept the general and scientific ones.[9] Hoad notes that the spelling humane was the usual one until the early 18th century, while human, based directly on Latin, appears in the late 17th.[7] The noun, “a human being”, is from 1509[10] or the 1530s.[2][3] Human nature is from the 1580s, human rights from the 1650s, human being from the 1670s and human interest from 1779.[2] The sense “showing the qualities of a human being” is from 1837.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 1450 – of or belonging to man.[3]
  • 1509 – noun, a human being.[10]
  • 1580s – human nature.[2]
  • 1650s – human rights.[2]
  • 1670s – human being.[2]
  • 18th century – split from humane.[9]
  • 1779 – human interest.[2]
  • 1837 – having human qualities.[10]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to people, as distinct from animals or machines.
  2. Showing the better qualities of people, such as kindness.
  3. Subject to human weakness: only human.
  4. Having the form of a person.

Noun

  1. A human being; a person.

Word family

  • humanhood
  • humanness
  • humanlike
  • humane
  • humanitarian
  • humanitarianism
  • humanity
  • humble
  • homage
  • homicide
  • humus
  • bridegroom

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)