humanism

Etymology

It is formed from English human + -ism,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} in its later senses after humanist.^[2][3][7] The senses of literary learning and of the Renaissance movement follow German Humanismus, used for literary learning from 1808, for the Renaissance movement from 1847 or earlier, and for a philosophy centred on the human from 1848 or earlier.^[2] The OED compares French humanisme, love of humankind, in an apparently isolated record of 1765;^[2] Barnhart thinks the theological sense possibly borrowed from the French word, which it dates to 1763,^[8] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged likewise sees French or German influence in some senses.^[6] The noun humanist, a classical scholar, from 1589, comes from Middle French humaniste, from Latin hūmānus (“human”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Probably the pursuit of earthly interests without regard to moral or religious ones: a single record of 1618, in the Owles Almanacke.^[2] Barnhart dates the word to 1812, in Coleridge, quoted in Southey's Omniana, for the belief that Christ was merely human.^[8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that humanism and humanist were used in a variety of philosophical and theological senses from the 16th to the 18th century.^[5] The theological sense, the doctrine that Christ was only human, is recorded from 1790 and is now rare.^[2][3] The sense of classical learning dates from 1832 in Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster,^[8][5][6] but from 1836 in the OED;^[2] the name of the Renaissance movement follows in 1849.^[2] A system of thought centred on human interests is recorded by 1847, originally often in the writings of its enemies,^[5] and in the OED from 1848.^[2] In 1903 the philosopher F. C. S. Schiller used humanism for his pragmatism,^[2][8] which he defined in 1907 as the perception that the philosophic problem concerns human beings trying to understand a world of human experience by human minds.^[8][5] The sense of an ethical stance stressing human reason and rejecting the supernatural is recorded from 1929.^[2]

Timeline

• 1618 – probably the pursuit of earthly interests (obsolete, rare).^[2]
• 1790 – the doctrine that Christ was only human.^[2]
• 1832 – the study of the classics.^[8][5][6] The OED dates it to 1836.^[2]
• 1836 – concern for human welfare, humaneness.^[2]
• 1848 – a system of thought centred on humans and their interests.^[2]
• 1849 – the intellectual movement of the Renaissance.^[2]
• 1903 – F. C. S. Schiller's name for pragmatism.^[2][8]
• 1929 – an ethical stance stressing human reason and rejecting religion.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A system of thought centred on human beings, their values, abilities and worth.^[9][2]
2. An outlook that rejects religion and the supernatural and relies on human reason and effort to improve life; often capitalised for an organised movement.^[10][2]
3. Humanism: the cultural movement of the Renaissance, marked by the revival of classical learning and a turn from religious to secular interests.^{[9][6][10][2]}
4. The study of the humanities; literary culture.^[9][6][2]
5. Concern for human welfare; humanitarianism.^[6][10][2]
6. (historical) F. C. S. Schiller's name for his pragmatism.^[2][8]
7. (obsolete) The belief that Christ was human and not divine.^[2][3]

Word family

• humanist
• humanistic
• humanistically
• antihumanism

Related words

• human
• humanity
• humane

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins