Wordwyrt

humble

/ˈhʌmbəl/HUHM-buhl
/ˈhʌmbəl/HUHM-buhl

Meaninglow, near the ground

Common meaning: modest

Other meanings: lowly

Journey through time

  1. Latinhumus, -ī‘earth, soil’
  2. Middle Englishhumblesource
  3. Englishhumble‘modest’ · today

hum also in: humiliateexhume

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin humus ‘earth, soil’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry humus, p. 870 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

exhumehumiliate

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