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  • HUMINT
    HUMINT
    noun
    the gathering of political or military intelligence through secret agents.
  • humint
    humint
    noun
    human intelligence: military intelligence gained from human sources with knowledge of the target area

HUMINT

American  
[hyoo-mint, yoo-] / ˈhju mɪnt, ˈju- /
Or humint

noun

  1. the gathering of political or military intelligence through secret agents.


humint British  
/ ˈhjuːmɪnt /

noun

  1. human intelligence: military intelligence gained from human sources with knowledge of the target area

"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

Etymology

Origin of HUMINT

1975–80; hum(an) int(elligence)

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.

See Examples For:

Once you get into HUMINT, SI, FISA, and OCORN, you get into really, really classified.

From Slate Aug. 26, 2022

In some cases, Psy-Group operatives conducted on-the-ground covert human-intelligence, or HUMINT, operations against their targets.

From The New Yorker Feb. 28, 2019

What the CIA works on is human intelligence, called HUMINT.

From Slate Feb. 22, 2017

There’s “human intelligence,” or HUMINT, from sources and agents on the ground; there’s imagery and satellite intelligence, or GEOINT, by the bushelful.

From Salon Oct. 18, 2015

Cryptology is code breaking; sigint is signals intelligence, like intercepting and interpreting phone calls and other communications; humint is human intelligence, the art of persuading people, against their instincts, to provide information.

From New York Times Feb. 8, 2019

So diplomats and cabinet ministers here also want to upgrade their "humint".

From The Guardian Mar. 16, 2011

The humint void is behind the CIA's failure to pick up advance word of the Sept.

From Time Magazine Archive

It has been generally acknowledged that the United States has never had any significant human sources--or, in intelligese, humint assets--inside al-Qaeda.

From Time Magazine Archive

This means a stronger emphasis on "humint," the product of human spies clandestinely gathering information and the analyst poring over openly available materials.

From Time Magazine Archive

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