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humane

[ hyoo-meyn or, often, yoo- ]
/ hyuˈmeɪn or, often, yu- /
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See synonyms for: humane / humanely / humaneness on Thesaurus.com
adjective
characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressed: humane treatment of prisoners.
acting in a manner that causes the least harm to people or animals: humane trapping of stray pets.
of or relating to humanistic studies.
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Origin of humane

First recorded in 1425–75; originally a variant of human, restricted to above senses from the 18th century; cf. germane, german

synonym study for humane

1. See human.

OTHER WORDS FROM humane

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH humane

human, humane (see synonym study at human)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

Words related to humane

approachable, benevolent, considerate, cordial, democratic, forgiving, friendly, generous, gentle, gracious, humanitarian, merciful, open-minded, sympathetic, tolerant, unselfish, accommodating, altruistic, amiable, benign

How to use humane in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for humane

humane
/ (hjuːˈmeɪn) /
adjective
characterized by kindness, mercy, sympathy, etc
inflicting as little pain as possiblea humane killing
civilizing or liberal (esp in the phrases humane studies, humane education)

Derived forms of humane

humanely, adverbhumaneness, noun

Word Origin for humane

C16: variant of human
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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