human

American  

[hyoo-muhn, yoo‑] / ˈhju mən, ˈju‑ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, characteristic of, or having the nature of people.

   human frailty.

2. consisting of people.

   the human race.

3. of or relating to the social aspect of people.

   human affairs.

4. sympathetic; humane.

   a warmly human understanding.

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noun

• humans
  plural

1. a human being.

human British  

/ ˈhjuːmən /

adjective

1. of, characterizing, or relating to man and mankind

   human nature

2. consisting of people

   the human race

   a human chain

3. having the attributes of man as opposed to animals, divine beings, or machines

   human failings

4. 1. kind or considerate

   2. natural

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noun

1. a human being; person

human Scientific  

/ hyo̅o̅′mən /

1. A member of the species Homo sapiens; a human being.

2. A member of any of the extinct species of the genus Homo, such as Homo erectus or Homo habilis, that are considered ancestral or closely related to modern humans.

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human Idioms  

1. see milk of human kindness.

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Pronunciation

Pronunciations of words like human, huge, etc., with the initial deleted: , , while sometimes criticized, are heard from speakers at all social and educational levels, including professors, lawyers, and other public speakers.

Synonym Usage

Human, humane may refer to that which is, or should be, characteristic of human beings. In thus describing characteristics, human may refer to good and bad traits of a person alike ( human kindness; human weakness ). When emphasis is placed upon the latter, human is thought of as contrasted to divine: To err is human, to forgive divine. He was only human. Humane (the original spelling of human, and since 1700 restricted in meaning) takes into account only the nobler or gentler aspects of people and is often contrasted to their more ignoble or brutish aspect. A humane person is benevolent in treating fellow humans or helpless animals; the word once had also connotations of courtesy and refinement (hence, the application of humane to those branches of learning intended to refine the mind).

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• humanness
  noun
• half-human
  adjective
• human-like
  adjective
• humanlike
  adjective
• interhuman
  adjective
• overhuman
  adjective
• pseudohuman
  adjective
• quasi-human
  adjective
• transhuman
  adjective
• ultrahuman
  adjective
• unhuman
  adjective
• quasi-humanly
  adverb
• unhumanly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• humans
  plural

Etymology

Origin of human

First recorded in 1350–1400; earlier humain(e), humayn(e), Middle English, from Middle French humain, from Latin hūmānus, akin to homō “human being”; cf. Homo ( def. ); spelling human predominant from early 18th century

Explanation

Unlike a pickle or a chipmunk, a human is a person. You can identify a human by the two legs it stands on, its upright stature, its high intelligence, and its speech that you'll understand if you're one, too. Human was first recorded in the mid 13th century, and owes its existence to the Middle French humain “of or belonging to man.” That word, in turn, comes from the Latin humanus, thought to be a hybrid relative of homo, meaning “man,” and humus, meaning “earth.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

human humans

Testing by campaign group Save the River Tywi showed evidence of industrial, agricultural and human waste pollution, with fishers saying they often see dead fish bobbing up and down in the water.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

By combining remote sensing observations, established hydrological knowledge, and interpretable AI methods, the framework helps address long-standing difficulties in studying High Mountain Asia, including rugged terrain and incomplete information about human water use.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

This is not an earth-shattering example of the mysterious contours of human desire.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

"First and foremost, a human is still behind all of this, and these people must be of high quality".

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

The tall human crouched, plucked a piece of rubbish from the roadside, then stuffed it into a bag.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

As new fossils are discovered, many of the features once used to clearly separate humans from their close relatives have become increasingly difficult to define.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 20, 2026

Businesses can use AI to do more of the work of humans, especially in entry-level jobs that require less judgment and responsibility.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

The experience of frustration distinguishes humans from machines, at least for now.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

So could brain organoids grown and maintained in a lab hypothetically outlive humans?

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

“You all are making quite a signal for any humans in the woods.”

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Related Words

• body
• character
• child
• creature
• individual
• life
• mortal