human
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
From Late Middle English humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain, from Latin hūmānus m (“of or belonging to a man, human, humane”, adjective), from homo, with unclear ū. Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century.[1] Not etymologically related to man.
Pronunciation
Adjective
human (comparative more human, superlative most human)
- (not comparable) Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives.
- c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene vi:
- Some powers diuine, or els infernall, mixt / Their angry ſeedes at his conception: / For he was neuer ſprong of humaine race, / Since with the ſpirit of his fearefull pride, / He dares so doubtleſly reſolue of rule.
- 1660, [Richard Allestree], “Sect[ion] V. Of the Second Advantage, Wealth.”, in The Gentlemans Calling, London: […] T[imothy] Garthwait […], →OCLC, page 83:
- [N]o attempt is made to call in God to their reſcue, as if he vvere an idle unconcern'd ſpectator of humane affairs, or ſo inconſiderable an ally, as not to be vvorth the care of engaging him on their ſide.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
- Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
- (comparable) Having the nature or attributes of a human being.
- To err is human; to forgive, divine.
- 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
- She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, “Eye Witness”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 249:
- The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.
- 2011 August 17, Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., The Many Wars of Google: Handset makers will learn to live with their new ‘frenemy’, Business World, Wall Street Journal,
- Google wouldn't be human if it didn't want some of this loot, which buying Motorola would enable it to grab.
Alternative forms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Hypernyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from the adjective or noun human
- abhuman
- ahuman
- antehuman
- anti-human
- antihuman
- chuman
- countryhuman
- demihuman
- European early modern human
- extrahuman
- half-human
- HIV
- hope springs eternal in the human breast
- HOV
- huboon
- hucow
- hufu
- humanation
- human behavior
- human being
- human billboard
- human biodiversity
- human blockhead
- human botfly
- humanburger
- human burrito
- human cannonball
- human capital
- humancentric
- human chain
- human chattel
- human cheese
- human chorionic gonadotropin
- human chorionic somatomammotrophin
- human chorionic somatomammotropin
- human choriosomatomammotrophin
- human choriosomatomammotropin
- human-computer interaction
- human condition
- human death
- human development
- human directional
- human-dominated
- human dross
- human enhancement
- human error
- humanesque
- human evolution
- human factors
- human flag
- human flea
- human-flesh search
- human flesh search engine
- Human Genome Project
- human geographer
- human geography
- humanhood
- humanicide
- humanics
- humaniform
- humanify
- humanimal
- human immunodeficiency virus
- human immunodeficiency virus 1
- human immunodeficiency virus 2
- human insulin
- human intelligence
- human interest
- human interface device
- humanisation
- humanish
- humanism
- humanist
- humanization
- humanize
- humanizer
- human kind, humankind
- human knot
- humanless
- human leukocyte antigen
- human life
- human-like
- humanlike
- humanly
- humanmade
- human-made
- human microphone
- human milk
- human movement
- human nature
- humanness
- human-occupied vehicle
- humanoid
- humanosphere
- human papillomavirus
- humanphobe
- human potential movement
- human-powered
- human pyramid
- human race
- human-readable
- human relations
- human resource management
- human resources (HR)
- human resources management
- human right, human rights
- human-rightism
- human-rightist
- human roulette wheel
- human sacrifice
- human safari
- human seminal plasma protein hypersensitivity
- human services
- humansexual
- human shield
- human smuggling
- human statue
- human terrain
- human touch
- human trafficker
- human trafficking
- humanure
- human wave
- humanwise
- human year
- humanzee
- human zoo
- humint
- HUMINT
- huwoman
- infrahuman
- inhuman
- inhumane
- interhuman
- intrahuman
- metahuman
- milk of human kindness
- modern human
- no human being is illegal
- no human involved
- no human is illegal
- nonhuman, non-human
- paleohuman
- panhuman
- parahuman
- post-human
- posthuman
- prehuman
- preterhuman
- preter-human
- protohuman
- proto-human
- pseudohuman
- semi-human
- semihuman
- socialism with a human face
- spontaneous human combustion
- subhuman
- suprahuman
- to err is human
- transhuman
- ultrahuman
- -umab
- werehuman
Related terms
Translations
of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens
|
having the nature or attributes of a human being
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Noun
human (plural humans)
- (strictly, biology) The tallest, most abundant and most intelligent of the primates; Homo sapiens.
- Synonyms: human being, man; see also Thesaurus:person
- Humans share common ancestors with other apes.
- 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193:
- Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola.
- 2013 April 18, Rock Paper Cynic (webcomic):
- If I ever have to choose between a future where killer robots hunt humans or a future where bacon supplies have run out ... Let's just say you better start running.
- (fantasy, science fiction, mythology) A human as contrasted from superficially similar but typically more powerful humanoid creatures; a member of the human race.
- 1994 March 29, Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes:
- Greetings. I am Blor-Utar from Zimtok-5. I have come to subjugate the human race. Do not resist. Why humans? Because, in addition to their value as slave labor, they are also delicious and nutritious!
- (fantasy, science fiction) A term of address for any human, often implying the listener's species is their only noteworthy trait.
- 2011 December 29, Alex Culang, Raynato Castro, Buttersafe (webcomic):
- Greetings, human! You have stumbled into the dimension of the Snow People. […] Flesh plows clear the streets to make them safe to drive. […] Does this shock you, human? Do the ways of our world open your eyes to the truths of your own?
- (broadly) Any hominid of the genus Homo.
Translations
a human being — see man/translations
Verb
human (third-person singular simple present humans, present participle humaning or humanning, simple past and past participle humaned or humanned)
- (rare) To behave as or become, or to cause to behave as or become, a human.
- 1911, Ambrose Bierce, “Music”, in The collected works of Ambrose Bierce, volume 9, page 362:
- […] he sought to charm a single pair of ears, and those more hairy than critical. Later, as the race went on humaning, there grew complexity of sentiment and varying emotional needs, […]
- 2013, Biosocial Becomings, →ISBN, page 19:
- There are, then, many ways of humaning: these are the ways along which we make ourselves and, collaboratively, one another.
References
- Random House Dictionary, 2010
Further reading
human on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - “human”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “human”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “human”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
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