*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of human

Etymology tree Latin hūmānuslbor. Old French umain Middle French humainbor. Middle English humayne English human From Late Middle English humaigne, humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umai

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
adj

Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives. · Having the nature or attributes of a human being. · Compassionate.

verb

To behave as or become, or to cause to behave as or become, a human.

noun

A highly intelligent ape with fine and short body hair; the most abundant species of primate, with members found on every continent (Homo sapiens). · A human as contrasted from superficially similar but typically more powerful humanoid creatures; a member of the human race. · A term of address for any human, often implying the listener's species is their only noteworthy trait. · Any hominid of the genus Homo.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Latin hūmānuslbor. Old French umain Middle French humainbor. Middle English humayne English human From Late Middle English humaigne, humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain (“of or belonging to man”, adjective), from Latin hūmānus m (“of man, human”, adjective); see there for further details. Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century. Compare man, to which it is possibly related.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "3": "enm:humayne<id:human>",
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        "tree": "1"
      },
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    },
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    },
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        "4": "",
        "5": "of man, human",
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      },
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

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Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-aHVtYW4