humanistic

Etymology

It is formed from English humanist + -ic.^[2][3][4] The noun came from Middle French humaniste (“classical scholar”), formed from Latin hūmānus (“human”) and the suffix -iste.^[2][5] Etymonline adds that the French word was modelled on Italian umanista.^[3] The longer humanistical is recorded earlier, from 1716.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to the Renaissance humanists or to classical learning, and more generally literary as opposed to scientific: 1840, in the Educational Magazine.^[2][3] The 1989 edition of the OED first recorded it in 1845.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word first referred to the scholars of the Renaissance and their classical studies.^[2][3][4] From the mid 19th century it was also applied to humanism in a wider sense:^[2] the OED now has this from 1855, where its 1989 edition dated it to 1904,^[2][6] and Etymonline dates to 1904 its use for a modern philosophy concerned with the interests of humankind.^[3] The Shorter Oxford places that philosophical sense in the early 20th century.^[4] In palaeography, from 1911, humanistic names the simplified script that Italian scholars developed from medieval book hands in the early 15th century.^[2] The plural noun humanistics, classical studies, was used from the early 18th century but is rare.^[4][6]

Timeline

• 1716 – the earlier form humanistical, relating to humanism.^[2]
• 1840 – relating to the Renaissance humanists; literary rather than scientific.^[2][3]
• 1855 – relating to humanism.^[2]
• 1911 – in palaeography, of the script of the Italian humanists.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to or characteristic of humanism, a philosophy centred on human interests, values and abilities: a humanistic approach to medicine.^[2][4][3]
2. Relating to the Renaissance humanists or to classical learning; more generally, literary rather than scientific.^[2][4]
3. (palaeography) Of the simplified script developed from medieval book hands by Italian scholars in the early 15th century.^[2]

Word family

• antihumanistic
• nonhumanistic
• unhumanistic

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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press