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Meaning & use

humanity

noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/hjuːˈmæn.ə.ti/
US/hjuːˈmæn.ə.t̬i/

Meanings

  1. noununcountable

    All people considered together as one group.

    Grammar: Singular with no article: the future of humanity, or humanity as a whole.

    Patterns

    • the future of humanity
    • for the good of humanity

    Clean water is a basic need of all humanity.

    Scientists warned that climate change threatens humanity.

    The vaccine was a gift to humanity.

  2. noununcountableapproving

    Kindness, compassion and sympathy toward other people or animals.

    Grammar: Often shown by actions: treat prisoners with humanity.

    Patterns

    • treat someone with humanity
    • show humanity

    The nurse treated every patient with humanity.

    The soldiers showed great humanity toward the prisoners.

    A moment of humanity softened the tense meeting.

  3. noununcountable

    The qualities and weaknesses that make someone a human being.

    Grammar: Often used as our common humanity or someone's humanity.

    Patterns

    • our common humanity
    • someone's humanity

    Their shared humanity mattered more than their differences.

    The film shows the humanity of its flawed hero.

    Mistakes remind us of our humanity.

  4. nounplural

    Academic subjects such as history, languages and philosophy that study human culture.

    Grammar: Used as the humanities, with a plural form and verb.

    Patterns

    • study the humanities
    • a humanities degree

    She studied the humanities at university.

    The humanities help us understand culture and ideas.

    He teaches in the humanities department.

Word forms

pluralhumanities

Common combinations

crime against humanity
The tribunal tried him for crimes against humanity.
common humanity
The disaster reminded us of our common humanity.
for the good of humanity
The scientist worked for the good of humanity.
show humanity
The judge showed humanity in the sentence.
basic humanity
Basic humanity demands that we help the injured.

Synonyms and how they differ

mankind
Mankind means the whole human race, but it is considered less inclusive than humanity in modern writing.
compassion
Compassion is specifically sympathy for suffering, while humanity can also mean the human race.
kindness
Kindness is an everyday word for being nice, and it is less grand than humanity.
humankind
Humankind is nearly identical to the first sense of humanity and sounds slightly more formal.

Opposites

crueltyinhumanity

Word family

human adjective
relating to people
humane adjective
showing kindness toward people and animals
humanitarian adjective
concerned with improving people's lives
humanism noun
a view that values human needs and reason
inhumanity noun
cruel treatment of others

Commonly confused: humanity or humanness? humanity or humane?

humanity vs humanness

Humanness means the quality of being human, whereas humanity can also mean the entire race or kindness.

humanity vs humane

Humane is an adjective for kind, while humanity is the noun.

Practice

Which sentence uses humanity in the sense of kindness?

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