SOURCE 01supportshistorical dictionary
Humility — Definition, Use, and First Known Use
Publishes the broad English horizon.
First Known Use: 14th century- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗CLAIM / COUNTERCLAIM / LIMITRECORD 315
DISPUTE
RECORD.
One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
openprobable
What is the earliest secure English humility witness?
Merriam-Webster reports the fourteenth century broadly. The Middle English Dictionary supplies a circa-1390 Chaucer citation with humylitee, but this review did not inspect its underlying manuscript witness, and the located citation does not prove that no earlier English occurrence survives.
WORD UNDER REVIEWDISPUTE 315
humility
/hjuːˈmɪləti/ · noun
Freedom from pride or arrogance; the quality or condition of being humble.
01
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
2 SOURCES WITH A STANCE
A citation is not a vote. Each record says whether the work supports, challenges, contradicts, or contextualizes the position—and identifies the exact locus used.
SOURCE 02contexthistorical dictionary
Humblen — Middle English Dictionary entry and citations
Supplies one located Middle English dictionary citation but not a directly inspected manuscript object.
c1390 Chaucer CT.Pars. I.989- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Middle English Dictionary Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- University of Michigan Library
02 / EDITORIAL STATE
THE QUESTION REMAINS OPEN.
- CONFIDENCE
- probable
- STATUS
- open
- LEGACY SOURCE SUMMARY
- The sources support a fourteenth-century horizon and a specific reported occurrence, not one verified first object.
Promote an exact earlier manuscript or edition witness only after direct facsimile inspection and textual-location verification.