Etymograph

English

human

Human comes from Middle French humain ‘human’, and goes back to Latin hūmānus.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhūmānus‘of man’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400humain
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘human’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500humaigne
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588human

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhūmānus‘of man’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400humain
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form‘human’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500humaigne
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588human

Earliest quotation: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Some powers diuine, or els infernall, mixt / Their…”

The story

Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ

goon, 16 more

through Latin hemō

homophobia, 11 more

through Latin homō

homo, homage, hombre, ombre, omi, homunculus, hominin, 11 more

through Latin hūmānus ‘of man, human’

inhumane, inhumanity, 6 more

Today it means

adj Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin hūmānus / human

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