humankind
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of humankind
First recorded in 1635–45; from the phrase human kind; modeled on mankind ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Southern writers were drawn to the grotesque, Flannery O’Connor wrote, because they conceived of humankind theologically, in relation to the Fall.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
When the toys use messaging apps to control their owners in ways that go terrifyingly unnoticed, humankind itself seems to be blundering about with its brain unplugged.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 18, 2026
The official presenting the award called the discovery the vitamin’s “greatest practical importance” and lauded it among the discoveries that have been of great benefit to humankind.
From Salon • May 7, 2026
"I like to think about it as walking through a doorway into how humankind explores the solar system going forward."
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
To ecologists, the great tropical forest in South America was and is the planet’s greatest wilderness, primeval and ancient, an Edenic zone touched by humankind lightly if at all.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
