humble

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhʌmbəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English umble, later humble, borrowed from Old French umble (“humble”), humble, earlier humele,^[2][3][4] from Latin humilis (“lowly, humble”), literally on the ground,^[3][2][5] from humus (“earth, ground”) (see humus),^[3][2] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *dhghem- (“earth”).^[3][6] Barnhart notes that the b inserted in Old French is typical of words that lost a vowel between m and l.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of persons, modest, not proud: about 1250 in the OED, about 1275 in Barnhart;^[7][2] humble about 1375, in Chaucer.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Of things, lowly in kind or condition, and of persons, of low birth or rank, it is from the late 14th century.^[3][4] It was used formally in subscriptions to letters (your humble servant) from about 1386.^[7] Of plants, low-growing, it is from 1658.^[7] The verb, to make humble, is from about 1380.^[2] Word Origins notes that humble pie was originally umble pie, made of a deer's innards, the umbles, and that the pun on humble came later.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – modest.^[7]
• c. 1380 – the verb.^[2]
• c. 1386 – of lowly condition; in letters.^[7]
• 1658 – of plants.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Modest; not proud or arrogant.
2. Showing respect; deferential.
3. Low in rank or condition; unpretentious: a humble cottage.

Verb

1. To lower the pride of; to humiliate.
2. To make modest in spirit.

Word family

• humbleness
• humbler
• humbly
• humblingly
• unhumble
• humble pie

Related words

• humiliate
• humiliation
• humility
• humus
• human

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press