human

See also: Human and humán

Contents

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French humain, from Latin hūmānus (“of or belonging to a man, human, humane”), from homo (“man, human”). Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century.

Displaced Old English guma (whence Modern English groom and obsolete/dialectal English gome), with which it is cognate, and wer.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)juːmən/, [ˈ(ç)ju̟ːmən], [ˈ(ç)ju̟ːmn̩]
• (US) enPR: (h)yo͞oʹmən, (h)yo͞omʹn, IPA^(key): /ˈ(h)jumən/, [ˈ(ç)ju̟mən], [ˈ(ç)ju̟mn̩]
  • (NYC, some other US dialects) IPA^(key): /ˈjumən/
• (Indian English) IPA^(key): /ˈhjuːmən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːmən
• Hyphenation: hu‧man

Adjective

human (comparative more human, superlative most human)

2. (not comparable) Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives.
   • 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.

3. (comparable) Having the nature or attributes of a human being.

   To err is human; to forgive, divine.

   • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎^[1]:

     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, chapter 20, in The China Governess‎^[2]:

     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.

Synonyms

• mannish, mennish (nonstandard, very rare)

Derived terms

Terms derived from the adjective or noun human

• human behaviour
• human being
• human botfly
• human capital
• human chattel
• human chorionic gonadotropin
• human-computer interaction
• human condition
• human death
• human development
• Human Genome Project
• human immunodeficiency virus
• human insulin
• human interest
• humanism
• humanist
• humanization
• humanize
• humanizer
• human kind, humankind
• human knot
• human life
• humanly
• human movement
• human nature
• humanoid
• human papillomavirus
• human pyramid
• human race
• human relations
• human resources (HR)
• human rights
• human trafficking
• inhuman
• inhumane
• nonhuman, non-human
• to err is human

 

Pages starting with "human".

Related terms

• humane
• humanitarian
• humanitarianism
• humanity

Translations

of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens

• Afrikaans: mens (af)
• Arabic: بَشَرِيّ‎ (ar) (bašariyy)
• Aragonese: umano
• Armenian: մարդկային (hy) (mardkayin)
• Assamese: মানুহ (manuh), মানৱ (manôw)
• Asturian: humanu (ast)
• Bulgarian: човешки (bg) (čoveški)
• Catalan: humà (ca)
• Central Sierra Miwok: míw·y-
• Cherokee: please add this translation if you can
• Czech: lidský (cs) m
• Danish: menneskelig
• Dutch: menselijk (nl), mens- (nl)
• Esperanto: homa (eo)
• Estonian: inim-, inimese
• Finnish: inhimillinen (fi), ihmis-
• French: humain (fr)

  Old French: umain, humain

• Galician: humano (gl)
• Georgian: ადამიანური (adamianuri)
• German: menschlich (de)
• Greek: ανθρώπινος (el) (anthrópinos)

  Ancient Greek: ἀνθρωπικός (anthrōpikós)

• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Hebrew: אֱנוֹשִׁי‎ (he) (enoshí)
• Hindi: इंसान (insān), मनुष्य (hi) (manuṣya), मानव (hi) (mānav)
• Hungarian: emberi (hu)
• Ido: homa (io)
• Indonesian: manusia (id)
• Irish: daonna
• Italian: umano (it)
• Japanese: 人 (ja) (hito)
• Khmer: នៃមនុស្សលោក (ney mɔnuh look)

• Korean: 사람 (ko) (saram)
• Latvian: cilvēcisks
• Limburgish: miensjelik (li)
• Macedonian: човечки m (čovečki)
• Malay: manusia (ms)
• Maori: tangata
• Maranao: manosiya
• Ngazidja Comorian: -a kibinadamu
• Norwegian: menneskelig (no)
• Occitan: uman (oc)

  Old Occitan: uman, human

• Old English: mennisċ
• Polish: ludzki (pl) m
• Portuguese: humano (pt)
• Romanian: omenesc (ro), uman (ro)
• Romansch: uman (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader), human (Sursilvan), umaun (Puter)
• Russian: челове́ческий (ru) (čelovéčeskij), людско́й (ru) (ljudskój)
• Sanskrit: मानव (sa) (mānava), मनुष्य (sa) (manuṣya)
• Scots: human
• Scottish Gaelic: daonna
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: љу̀дскӣ

  Roman: ljùdskī (sh)

• Slovak: ľudský
• Slovene: človeški, ljúdski
• Sotho: motho (st)
• Spanish: humano (es)
• Swedish: mänsklig (sv)
• Sylheti: ꠝꠣꠘꠥ (manu), ꠝꠣꠘꠥꠡ (manuś)
• Telugu: మనిషి (te) (maniṣi)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: מענטשלעך‎ (mentshlekh)

having the nature or attributes of a human being

• Afrikaans: menslik (af)
• Arabic: آدْمِيّ‎ (ʾādmiyy), بَشَرِيّ‎ (ar) (bašariyy), إِنْسَانِيّ‎ (ʾinsāniyy)
• Armenian: մարդկային (hy) (mardkayin)
• Aromanian: uminescu
• Asturian: humanu (ast)
• Bulgarian: човешки (bg) (čoveški)
• Catalan: humà (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏴᏫ (yvwi)
• Czech: lidský (cs) m
• Danish: menneskelig, human (da)
• Dutch: menselijk (nl)
• Esperanto: homa (eo)
• Estonian: inimlik
• Finnish: inhimillinen (fi)
• French: humain (fr)
• Friulian: please add this translation if you can
• Galician: humano (gl)
• German: menschlich (de)
• Greek: ανθρώπινος (el) m (anthrópinos)

  Ancient Greek: ἀνθρώπινος (anthrṓpinos)

• Hungarian: emberi (hu)
• Ido: homala (io)

• Irish: duiniúil, duineata
• Italian: umano (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: នៃមនុស្សលោក (ney mɔnuh look)
• Latvian: cilvēcisks
• Macedonian: човечки m (čovečki)
• Norwegian: menneskelig (no), menneskeaktig
• Old English: mennisċ
• Polish: ludzki (pl) m
• Portuguese: humano (pt)
• Romanian: omenesc (ro), uman (ro)
• Romansch: uman (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader), human (Sursilvan), umaun (Puter)
• Russian: челове́ческий (ru) (čelovéčeskij), людско́й (ru) (ljudskój)
• Scots: human
• Scottish Gaelic: daonna
• Slovak: ľudský
• Slovene: človeški, ljúdski
• Spanish: humano (es)
• Swedish: mänsklig (sv)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: מענטשלעך‎ (mentshlekh)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Belarusian: ^{(please verify)} чалаве́чы (čalavjéčy), ^{(please verify)} лю́дскі (ljúdski)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 人 (zh) (rén), ^{(please verify)} 人类 (zh) (rénlèi)

• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} inim-, ^{(please verify)} inimlik, ^{(please verify)} inimese
• Igbo: ^{(please verify)} madụ
• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} human
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} hūmānus (la)

• Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} žmoginis m (biological term), ^{(please verify)} žmogiškas m
• Novial: ^{(please verify)} homal (1-3), ^{(please verify)} homatri (2)
• Persian: ^{(please verify)} انسانی‎ (fa) (ensani)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} љу̀дскӣ, ^{(please verify)} човечнo n, ^{(please verify)} човечнa f

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} ljùdskī (sh) m

• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} insan (tr)

Noun

Rendition of the humans on the Pioneer 10 plaque

human (plural humans)

2. A human being, whether man, woman or child.
   • 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.

   Humans share common ancestors with other apes.

   Synonyms: human being, man, → Thes:person

Translations

a human being — see man/translations

Verb

human (third-person singular simple present humans, present participle humaning, simple past and past participle humaned)

1. (rare) To behave as or become, or to cause to behave as or become, a human.
   • 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.

   • 1911, 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, […]

References

Further reading

• human on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• human in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• human in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• human at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Nahum

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Cebuano

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: hu‧man

Verb

human

1. to finish

Adjective

human

1. completed; done

Adverb

human

1. after

Quotations

For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:human.

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Danish

Adjective

human

1. human (having the nature or attributes of a human being)
2. humane (something done from love to humanity)

Inflection

Inflection of human
	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Common singular	human	—	—2
Neuter singular	humant	—	—2
Plural	humane	—	—2
Definite attributive1	humane	—	—
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /huˈmaːn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːn

Adjective

human (comparative humaner, superlative am humansten)

1. humane

Declension

Positive forms of human

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist human	sie ist human	es ist human	sie sind human
strong declension (without article)	nominative	humaner	humane	humanes	humane
	genitive	humanen	humaner	humanen	humaner
	dative	humanem	humaner	humanem	humanen
	accusative	humanen	humane	humanes	humane
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der humane	die humane	das humane	die humanen
	genitive	des humanen	der humanen	des humanen	der humanen
	dative	dem humanen	der humanen	dem humanen	den humanen
	accusative	den humanen	die humane	das humane	die humanen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein humaner	eine humane	ein humanes	(keine) humanen
	genitive	eines humanen	einer humanen	eines humanen	(keiner) humanen
	dative	einem humanen	einer humanen	einem humanen	(keinen) humanen
	accusative	einen humanen	eine humane	ein humanes	(keine) humanen

Comparative forms of human

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist humaner	sie ist humaner	es ist humaner	sie sind humaner
strong declension (without article)	nominative	humanerer	humanere	humaneres	humanere
	genitive	humaneren	humanerer	humaneren	humanerer
	dative	humanerem	humanerer	humanerem	humaneren
	accusative	humaneren	humanere	humaneres	humanere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der humanere	die humanere	das humanere	die humaneren
	genitive	des humaneren	der humaneren	des humaneren	der humaneren
	dative	dem humaneren	der humaneren	dem humaneren	den humaneren
	accusative	den humaneren	die humanere	das humanere	die humaneren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein humanerer	eine humanere	ein humaneres	(keine) humaneren
	genitive	eines humaneren	einer humaneren	eines humaneren	(keiner) humaneren
	dative	einem humaneren	einer humaneren	einem humaneren	(keinen) humaneren
	accusative	einen humaneren	eine humanere	ein humaneres	(keine) humaneren

Superlative forms of human

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist am humansten	sie ist am humansten	es ist am humansten	sie sind am humansten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	humanster	humanste	humanstes	humanste
	genitive	humansten	humanster	humansten	humanster
	dative	humanstem	humanster	humanstem	humansten
	accusative	humansten	humanste	humanstes	humanste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der humanste	die humanste	das humanste	die humansten
	genitive	des humansten	der humansten	des humansten	der humansten
	dative	dem humansten	der humansten	dem humansten	den humansten
	accusative	den humansten	die humanste	das humanste	die humansten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein humanster	eine humanste	ein humanstes	(keine) humansten
	genitive	eines humansten	einer humansten	eines humansten	(keiner) humansten
	dative	einem humansten	einer humansten	einem humansten	(keinen) humansten
	accusative	einen humansten	eine humanste	ein humanstes	(keine) humansten

Related terms

• Humanismus
• Humanist
• humanistisch

Further reading

• human in Duden online

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Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈhuman/

Verb

human

1. first-person singular present indicative of hupmat

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin hūmānus.

Adjective

human (neuter singular humant, definite singular and plural humane)

1. humane

References

• “human” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin hūmānus.

Adjective

human (neuter singular humant, definite singular and plural humane)

1. humane

References

• “human” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Romansch

Etymology

From Latin hūmānus.

Adjective

human m (feminine singular humana, masculine plural humans, feminine plural humanas)

1. (Sursilvan) human

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Vallader) uman
• (Puter) umaun

Noun

human m (plural humans)

1. (Sursilvan) (male) human being

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Vallader) uman
• (Puter) umaun

Synonyms

• carstgaun

Coordinate terms

• carstgauna, humana

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Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xûmaːn/
• Hyphenation: hu‧man

Adjective

hȕmān (definite hȕmānī, comparative humaniji, Cyrillic spelling ху̏ма̄н)

1. humane (with regard for the health and well-being of another; compassionate)

Declension

positive indefinite forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		human	humana	humano
genitive		humana	humane	humana
dative		humanu	humanoj	humanu
accusative	inanimate animate	human humana	humanu	humano
vocative		human	humana	humano
locative		humanu	humanoj	humanu
instrumental		humanim	humanom	humanim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		humani	humane	humana
genitive		humanih	humanih	humanih
dative		humanim(a)	humanim(a)	humanim(a)
accusative		humane	humane	humana
vocative		humani	humane	humana
locative		humanim(a)	humanim(a)	humanim(a)
instrumental		humanim(a)	humanim(a)	humanim(a)

positive definite forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		humani	humana	humano
genitive		humanog(a)	humane	humanog(a)
dative		humanom(u/e)	humanoj	humanom(u/e)
accusative	inanimate animate	humani humanog(a)	humanu	humano
vocative		humani	humana	humano
locative		humanom(e/u)	humanoj	humanom(e/u)
instrumental		humanim	humanom	humanim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		humani	humane	humana
genitive		humanih	humanih	humanih
dative		humanim(a)	humanim(a)	humanim(a)
accusative		humane	humane	humana
vocative		humani	humane	humana
locative		humanim(a)	humanim(a)	humanim(a)
instrumental		humanim(a)	humanim(a)	humanim(a)

comparative forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		humaniji	humanija	humanije
genitive		humanijeg(a)	humanije	humanijeg(a)
dative		humanijem(u)	humanijoj	humanijem(u)
accusative	inanimate animate	humaniji humanijeg(a)	humaniju	humanije
vocative		humaniji	humanija	humanije
locative		humanijem(u)	humanijoj	humanijem(u)
instrumental		humanijim	humanijom	humanijim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		humaniji	humanije	humanija
genitive		humanijih	humanijih	humanijih
dative		humanijim(a)	humanijim(a)	humanijim(a)
accusative		humanije	humanije	humanija
vocative		humaniji	humanije	humanija
locative		humanijim(a)	humanijim(a)	humanijim(a)
instrumental		humanijim(a)	humanijim(a)	humanijim(a)

superlative forms

singular		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		najhumaniji	najhumanija	najhumanije
genitive		najhumanijeg(a)	najhumanije	najhumanijeg(a)
dative		najhumanijem(u)	najhumanijoj	najhumanijem(u)
accusative	inanimate animate	najhumaniji najhumanijeg(a)	najhumaniju	najhumanije
vocative		najhumaniji	najhumanija	najhumanije
locative		najhumanijem(u)	najhumanijoj	najhumanijem(u)
instrumental		najhumanijim	najhumanijom	najhumanijim
plural		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative		najhumaniji	najhumanije	najhumanija
genitive		najhumanijih	najhumanijih	najhumanijih
dative		najhumanijim(a)	najhumanijim(a)	najhumanijim(a)
accusative		najhumanije	najhumanije	najhumanija
vocative		najhumaniji	najhumanije	najhumanija
locative		najhumanijim(a)	najhumanijim(a)	najhumanijim(a)
instrumental		najhumanijim(a)	najhumanijim(a)	najhumanijim(a)

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Swedish

Adjective

human

1. humane, decent, compassionate

   Deras politik har kritiserats för att inte vara human.

   Their politics have been criticised for being less than humane.

2. (of prices) reasonable

   Det var ett humant pris.

   That was a reasonable price.

Declension

Inflection of human
Indefinite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative2
Common singular	human	humanare	humanast
Neuter singular	humant	humanare	humanast
Plural	humana	humanare	humanast
Definite	Positive	Comparative	Superlative
Masculine singular1	humane	humanare	humanaste
All	humana	humanare	humanaste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.