human
/ˈhjuːmən
/adjective
1Relating to or characteristic of humankind: the human body the complex nature of the human mind...
- The human body and mind work according to the nature's laws, which are eternal, and immutable.
- There, among the babbling minds of the incompetent human race, was my beloved Farrell.
- It constantly amazes me how the minds of the human race in general work, or cease to work, as the case may be.
Synonyms
anthropoid
1.1Of or characteristic of people as opposed to God or animals or machines, especially in being susceptible to weaknesses: they are only human and therefore mistakes do occur the risk of human error...
- Investigating the validity of animal experiments is therefore essential for both human health and animals.
- These nervous fluids often got the blame for human error and weakness.
- She depicts an almost saintly figure, virtually devoid of human weakness or error.
Synonyms
mortal, flesh and blood;
fallible, weak, frail, imperfect, vulnerable, susceptible, erring, error-prone;
physical, bodily, fleshly, carnal, corporal
1.2Showing the better qualities of humankind, such as kindness: the human side of politics is getting stronger...
- As a matter of fact, the lack of such human qualities as honesty, kindness, and public spirit are generally felt.
- Both sides trampled on each other's human qualities, so please don't use these saddening words.
- This was an India I had never known, where human kindness flowed freely and tradesmen greeted me with genuine warmth.
Synonyms
compassionate, humane, kind, kindly, kind-hearted, considerate, understanding, sympathetic, tolerant;
approachable, accessible
1.3 Zoology Of or belonging to the genus Homo.They say coyotes have in some places become habituated to humans and human environments....
- The forepaws resemble slender human hands and make the raccoon unusually dextrous.
- So far nearly all human cases of avian flu have resulted from direct contact with infected birds.
noun
A human being.At least some people are realising that humans are completely abusing the right we have....
- I'm not meant to notice how Gail looks next to other people or how other humans treat her.
- You try to give them good stuff but these people are not fit to be called humans.
Synonyms
person, human being, personage, mortal, member of the human race;
man, woman, child;
individual, living soul, soul, being;
earthling;
Latin Homo sapiens
informal, dated body
archaic wight
Derivatives
humanness
- His modesty, his essential humanness, and his struggle with goodness, makes it easy for audiences to relate to him.
- Instead my concern over world and community events has me feeling concerned about yourself and others that have expressed a humanness we avid listeners and fans never allow from our heroes and heroines.
- I decided just to try and capture the humanness of the Queen, rather than anything formal.
Origin
Late Middle English humaine, from Old French humain(e), from Latin humanus, from homo 'man, human being'. The present spelling became usual in the 18th century; compare with humane.
In the beginning human and humane were the same word. The forms were used interchangeably until the 18th century, when human took over the scientific and general senses relating to people and humane became restricted to the meanings ‘showing compassion’, and ‘without inflicting pain’. Both derive from Latin humanus, from homo ‘man, human being’.