humid

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French humide (“damp, wet”), or directly borrowed from Latin hūmidus (“moist, wet”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} a variant of ūmidus,^[2][3][4] probably spelled with h- under the influence of humus (“earth”).^[3][4][8] Ūmidus is from ūmeō (“to be moist”),^[2][4][6][9] from Proto-Italic *umo- (“wet”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *uhrmo- (“wet”), the source also of ūrīna.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Moist, damp: before 1400, as humide, in Lanfranc's Science of Surgery, according to Barnhart.^[4] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century,^[3] the Shorter Oxford to late Middle English,^[6] and Merriam-Webster to the 15th century,^[5] while the OED, in an entry not revised since 1899, begins with about 1550.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The OED's earliest sense is "slightly wet, as with steam or mist".^[2] In 1604 it was used of the elements and humours of medieval physiology;^[2] in 1800 of a chemical process using liquid, and in 1813 of diseases marked by a moist discharge.^[2] Johnson (1755) glossed it "wet; moist; watery", quoting Milton's "humid bow" of Iris.^[10]

Timeline

• before 1400 – humide, moist, in Lanfranc.^[4]
• c. 1550 – moist, damp, in the Complaynt of Scotland.^[2]
• 1604 – of elements and humours in old physiology.^[2]
• 1755 – Johnson: wet, moist, watery.^[10]
• 1800 – of a chemical process using liquid.^[2]
• 1813 – of diseases with a moist discharge.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Containing noticeable moisture; damp, especially of air or weather: a humid afternoon in July.^[5][11][2]

Word family

• humidly
• humidness
• dehumidify
• humidify
• humidistat
• humidor
• subhumid
• unhumid

Related words

• humidity
• humour
• humectant

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins