human
pronunciation
How to pronounce human in British English:
UK [ˈhjuːmən]
How to pronounce human in American English:
US [ˈhjuːmən]
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- Noun:
- a human being
- any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae
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- Adjective:
- characteristic of humanity
- relating to a person
- having human form or attributes as opposed to those of animals or divine beings
Word Origin
- human
- human: [14] Human comes via Old French humain from Latin hūmānus. Like homō ‘person’, this was related to Latin humus ‘earth’, and was used originally for ‘people’ in the sense ‘earthly beings’ (in contrast with the immortal gods). Humane is essentially the same word, and became established in the 18th century as a distinct spelling (and pronunciation) for two or three specific senses of human. Other English derivatives include humanism [19], humanity [14], and humanitarian [19].=> humane, humble, humus
- human (adj.)
- mid-15c., humain, humaigne, from Old French humain, umain (adj.) "of or belonging to man" (12c.), from Latin humanus "of man, human," also "humane, philanthropic, kind, gentle, polite; learned, refined, civilized," probably related to homo (genitive hominis) "man" (see homunculus) and to humus "earth," on notion of "earthly beings," as opposed to the gods (compare Hebrew adam "man," from adamah "ground"). Cognate with Old Lithuanian zmuo (accusative zmuni) "man, male person." As a noun, from 1530s. Its Old English cognate guma (from Proto-Germanic *guman-) survives only in disguise in bridegroom. Related: Humanness. Human rights attested by 1680s; human being by 1690s. Human relations is from 1916; human resources attested by 1907, American English, apparently originally among social Christians and drawn from natural resources.
Example
- 1. The human brain is hard-wired to recognise faces .
- 2. The second great threat is human .
- 3. It is the one universal human experience .
- 4. In those cases , how is human value determined ?
- 5. America 's military presence has not prevented massive human suffering .