Humanity

How to spell humanity

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce humanity

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does humanity mean?

1. nounThe human race considered collectively; all people.
2. nounThe quality of being kind, compassionate, and humane toward others.

Humanity in a sentence

• The discovery promised real benefits for all of humanity.

• The nurse treated every patient with warmth and humanity.

• War crimes are treated as offences against humanity.

• The harsh policy was criticised for its lack of humanity.

Where does humanity come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin humanitas, which meant both 'human nature' and 'kindness' or 'refinement', the cultured qualities that were thought to set people apart. That noun was built on humanus, meaning 'human' or 'humane', which in turn derives from homo, the Latin word for a human being or 'man' in the species-wide sense. English took the word in the late 1300s by way of Old French humanite, at first carrying the sense of courtesy and gentleness before broadening to mean the human race as a whole. The same homo root survives in relatives such as 'homicide' and the modern label Homo sapiens. The spelling stays regular once you remember the plain word 'human' sits at its heart, with the everyday -ity ending simply attached.

How the word is built

• human (from Latin humanus: human, civilised)
• -ity (noun-forming suffix denoting a quality or state)