humanity
noun
hu·man·i·ty
| \ hyü-ˈma-nə-tē
, yü-\
, yü-\
plural humanities
Definition of humanity
1
: compassionate, sympathetic, or generous behavior or disposition : the quality or state of being humane
bespeaking humanity for the enemy in the midst of a bloody struggle— C. G. Bowers
2a
: the quality or state of being human
joined together by their common humanity
b
humanities plural
: human attributes or qualities
his work has the ripeness of the 18th century, and its rough humanities— Pamela H. Johnson
3
humanities plural
: the branches of learning (such as philosophy, arts, or languages) that investigate human constructs (see construct entry 2 sense 1a) and concerns as opposed to natural processes (as in physics or chemistry) and social relations (as in anthropology or economics)
4
: the totality of human beings : the human race : humankind
a fierce compassion for the woes of humanity— Maurice Bowra
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Synonyms for humanity
Synonyms
folks, humankind, people, public, species, world
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Examples of humanity in a Sentence
We appealed to his sense of humanity.
These discoveries will be of benefit to all humanity.
She was cut off from the rest of humanity.
the college of arts and humanities
He's taking courses in both the sciences and the humanities.
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Recent Examples on the Web
In her grand sorting of humanity, there were runners, and then there were people like her — perfectly content couch potatoes. — Elena Nicolaou, refinery29.com, "Brittany Runs A Marathon," 22 Aug. 2019 The destruction had a bleak sameness to it, the warplanes and artillery having obliterated all but a few fingerholds of humanity. — Vivian Yee, New York Times, "What ‘Victory’ Looks Like: A Journey Through Shattered Syria," 20 Aug. 2019 For nearly 50 years now, the Stanford Prison Experiment has been held up as proof of how combustible personal interactions can be, how the bonds of humanity can disappear in a flash. — Noam Cohen, WIRED, "Beware the Epiphany-Industrial Complex," 19 Aug. 2019 No one in that mass of humanity was immune to the addiction, greed and competition that broke up bands and left vows of hippie harmony unfulfilled. — Bill Weir, CNN, "Woodstock's real and lasting legacy? Hope," 16 Aug. 2019 Land ecosystems naturally take up carbon from the atmosphere, and some of humanity’s emissions have ended up in these ecosystems (or the ocean) rather than the atmosphere—without this helpful uptake, the world would be warming even faster. — Scott K. Johnson, Ars Technica, "New IPCC report shows land use is part of solution to climate change," 8 Aug. 2019 The division of humanity into natives and migrants. — National Geographic, "In the 21st century, we are all migrants," 17 July 2019 After years of tidying up an Earth devoid of humanity, a robot janitor meets a mechanical scout and chases her across the galaxy. — Los Angeles Times, "Here are the feature and TV films airing the week of Sunday, Aug. 11, 2019," 11 Aug. 2019 The surviving members of humanity set up a habitat in orbit, the Ark, which has become overcrowded. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "The CW’s sci-fi show The 100 will end next season," 4 Aug. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'humanity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for humanity
humanity
noun
English Language Learners Definition of humanity
: the quality or state of being human
: the quality or state of being kind to other people or to animals
: all people
See the full definition for humanity in the English Language Learners Dictionary
humanity
noun
hu·man·i·ty
| \ hyü-ˈma-nə-tē
, yü-\
, yü-\
plural humanities
Kids Definition of humanity
1
: the quality or state of being human
Old enemies were joined by their common humanity in combating the disease.
2
: the human race
These discoveries will benefit humanity.
3
humanities plural
: studies (as literature, history, and art) concerned primarily with human culture
4
: kindness sense 1, sympathy
… she … sent the Portugal captain a very handsome present for his humanity and charity to me.— Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
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