umano Italian · revision 37847

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=13th–14th century, Il Fiore|origins=la hūmānus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /uˈma.no/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''umano''' (feminine ''umana'', masculine plural ''umani'', feminine plural ''umane'', superlative ''umanissimo''); noun ''umano'' m^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|hūmānus|t=human; humane]], though some popular forms survive in the dialects.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI notes that all three senses of the Latin adjective passed into Italian: “of man”, “worthy of man”, that is kind and educated, and “to which man, as a mortal, is subject”.^(DELI 1999) The same learned word is [[fr|humain]] and [[es|humano]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The Latin adjective belongs with [[m|la|homō|t=human being]] (see [[uomo]]), but its long ⟨ū⟩ is unexplained.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Devoto 1968) De Vaan finds no acceptable explanation;^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Leumann proposed a lost [[m|la|*hūm|t=earth]] from older [[m|la|*hōm]], so that the human would be the earthly being, as the noun itself is, from [[ine-pro|*dʰǵʰmṓ|t=earthling]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ DELI's first record is ''Il Fiore'', of the late 13th or early 14th century, with the sense “of man, proper to man”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) DEI's first text is a 14th-century translation of Saint Augustine, and ''umanamente'' is already in the ''Novellino'', of Christ having a human body.^(DEI|3948)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Dante, before 1321, used it for “made up of people”, and Berni, before 1535, for “full of kindness”.^(DELI 1999) The noun ''gli umani'' “mortals” is poetic, used from Pulci (before 1484); in 1855 Ugolini warned that it belonged only to lofty poetry or prose.^(DELI 1999) The neuter noun ''l'umano'' “what is human” is in Salvini before 1729.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ''Umanista'' arose in the Italian universities in the later 15th century for the teacher of the ''studia humanitatis'';^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''umanesimo'' (1891) follows German ''Humanismus'', coined in 1808 by Friedrich Niethammer.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) ''Umanitario'' and ''umanitarismo'' came from French ''humanitaire'' and ''humanitarisme'' in the 1830s.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010) Petrocchi's dictionary of 1891 records the sense “marked by human weakness and imperfection”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 13th century – The ''Novellino'' has ''umanamente''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 13th–14th century – ''Il Fiore'' has ''umano''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “made up of people”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1484 – Pulci uses ''umani'' for mortals.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1524–1525 – Ariosto uses ''umanista''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1838 – ''Umanitario'' is recorded.^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1891 – ''Umanesimo'' is recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|human]], of or relating to people: ''la voce umana'', ''l'anatomia umana''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # Natural to people and their weakness: ''È umano avere paura.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # [[m|en|humane]], understanding and kind towards others: ''Il nuovo direttore è una persona molto umana.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Like that of a person: ''un robot dalla voce quasi umana''.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(singular)'' What is human: ''Nei suoi quadri l'umano si fonde col divino.''^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # ''(chiefly plural, literary)'' Human beings, mortals.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[umanità]]

+ * [[umanamente]]

+ * [[umanista]]

+ * [[umanesimo]]

+ * [[umanistico]]

+ * [[umanitario]]

+ * [[umanitarismo]]

+ * [[umanizzare]]

+ * [[umanoide]]

+ * [[disumano]]

+ * [[sovrumano]]

+ * [[inumano]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[uomo]]

+ * [[la|homō]]

+ * [[fr|humain]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Il genere umano'' is mankind, and ''i diritti umani'' are human rights.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}