Etymologically
Log in

humain

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 07:45. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /y.mɛ̃/[1]

Forms

humain (feminine humaine, masculine plural humains, feminine plural humaines)[1] Old French also umain.[1][2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin humānus (“of man, human; civilized; kind”).[3][4][5][6] Rey, after Ernout and Meillet, notes that “humānus” corresponds exactly in sense to homō (“man, human being”) but is independent of it in form, like “publicus” beside “populus”; at an older level, where “homo” is linked to humus (“earth”), a formal link is more than likely.[4] The TLFi, the Grand Robert and the GLLF simply derive it from “homō”.[3][7][8]

Cognate with Catalan humà, Spanish humano and Italian umano.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Eneas (about 1160) it means “belonging to man”: Ce est enfer, ce ne est pas humains convers, “this is hell, not a human dwelling”.[3]

Semantic evolution

It soon meant “having the nature of man” (about 1165), as in être humain, and “made up of men”: humains lignages (about 1175), later l'humain genre and le genre humain (about 1360).[3][4][8] The sense “kind, benevolent”, taken again from Latin, is found about 1200, and of a woman it once meant “accessible”, opposed to inhumaine (1558).[3][4]

Les lettres humaines in Rabelais (1552) are profane literature, opposed to the Scriptures.[3][4] As a noun, les humains “mankind” is found in 1340 and l'humain “human nature” in d'Aubigné (before 1630).[3][4] The organ stop voix humaine dates from 1680, and respect humain from Corneille (1651).[4][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1160 – Eneas.[3]
  • c. 1175 – Humains lignages.[3]
  • c. 1200 – “Kind”, L'Escoufle.[3]
  • 1340 – Li humain “human beings”.[3]
  • 1552 – Les lettres humaines, Rabelais.[3]
  • 1578 – Surhumain, Ronsard.[5]
  • 1680 – Voix humaine, an organ stop.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. human: of or proper to man: la nature humaine, le corps humain, un être humain.[9][1]
  2. Made up of human beings: le genre humain, l'espèce humaine.[3][2]
  3. humane, kind, understanding: un chef très humain.[1][3]
  4. Natural to man, and so fallible: faiblesse humaine, défaillance humaine.[9]
  5. Concerning man as an object of study: sciences humaines.[4]

Noun

  1. A human being, les humains: mankind.[1][3]
  2. L'humain: what is human, human nature.[3][4]

Word family

  • humainement
  • inhumain
  • humaniser
  • surhumain

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 507b
  7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert