humanist

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French humaniste (“classical scholar”), recorded in French from 1539.^[2][3][4][5] The OED derives the French word from Latin hūmānus (“human”) and -iste,^[2][6] while Etymonline, Klein and the Shorter Oxford take it from Italian umanista,^[3][4][5] which Klein and Etymonline say was coined by the poet Lodovico Ariosto (1474–1533) from umano.^[4][3] The OED records the Italian word, as humanista, from before 1484, and compares Catalan humanista (1490), Spanish humanista, Portuguese humanista and New Latin humanista.^[2] It notes that the sense "Renaissance scholar" probably follows German Humanist.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A scholar of the humanities, especially of Latin and Greek literature: 1589, in A. Fleming's translation of Virgil's Bucolics.^[2] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to the 1580s.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

According to Etymonline the first idea was "human" as against "divine": a humanist studied the human achievements of the pagan authors, not the theology of the divines, and because the new learning was thought to loosen the Church's hold, the word gradually also came to mean a free-thinker.^[3] From 1603, in Florio's translation of Montaigne, it also meant a student of human affairs or human nature, now a rare sense.^[2] In Scotland a humanist was a teacher or professor of Latin,^[2][8] and Johnson (1773) added to his definition, "a philologer; a grammarian", that the term was used in the schools of Scotland.^[9] At the end of the 18th century theologians used it briefly for one who held that Christ was only human (1792–1824).^[2] The historical sense, the scholars of the Renaissance who revived classical learning, is recorded from 1797.^[2] The modern sense, a believer in humanism, dates from 1853,^[2] and in philosophy the word named a follower of F. C. S. Schiller's humanism from 1903.^[2][3] Since 1929 it has also described humanist organizations and the weddings and funerals they hold.^[2]

Timeline

• 1589 – a classical scholar, a student of the humanities.^[2]
• 1603 – a student of human affairs or human nature.^[2]
• 1792 – theology, one who believes that Christ was only human (obsolete by 1824).^[2]
• 1797 – a Renaissance scholar of classical learning.^[2]
• 1853 – a believer in the principles of humanism.^[2]
• 1881 – adjective, relating to the Renaissance humanists or the humanities.^[2]
• 1903 – philosophy, a follower of humanism.^[2][3]
• 1929 – adjective, of an organization or ceremony following humanist principles.^[2]
• 1954 – adjective, of the script developed by Italian scholars in the early 15th century.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A believer in the principles of humanism; especially a member or supporter of a humanist organization: He asked a humanist to lead the funeral.^[10][2][11]
2. A scholar of the Renaissance devoted to the study of classical literature.^[10][6][2]
3. A person who studies the humanities; formerly, a classical scholar.^[6][10][2]
4. A person concerned with the interests and welfare of human beings.^[10][6]
5. (rare) A student of human nature or human affairs.^[2][11]

Adjective

1. Of or relating to humanism or humanists: a humanist wedding.^[2][6][11]

Word family

• humanistic
• humanistically
• antihumanist

Related words

• human
• humanism
• humanities
• humanity
• humane

References

1. ^ 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 e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
11. ^ a b c The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers