Humiliation — Definition and Etymology
Publishes the historical form without a located primary witness.
Etymology: Middle English humiliacioun- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
PERMANENT DISPUTE RECORD
ALL DISPUTES ↗One scholarly question. Every attached source. The present editorial state, without pretending the last word has been written.
Merriam-Webster publishes the Middle English form humiliacioun, and Harvard’s Chaucer corpus indexes one occurrence. This review did not inspect an underlying manuscript, prove an exact composition year, or establish that no earlier English occurrence survives.
/hjuːˌmɪliˈeɪʃən/ · noun
The act, state, or instance of humiliating or being humiliated; degradation, disgrace, or shame.
DIRECT CLAIM EVIDENCE
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.
Publishes the historical form without a located primary witness.
Etymology: Middle English humiliaciounSupplies one edited corpus occurrence but not an inspected manuscript object.
Humiliacioun n 1; Parson’s Tale recordPromote a specific manuscript or early edition leaf only after facsimile inspection, textual-location verification, and a defensible date.