humanity

play

noun hu·man·i·ty \ hyü-ˈma-nə-tē , yü- \

Definition of humanity

plural humanities

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

2 a :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 ²construct 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

See humanity defined for English-language learners

See humanity defined for kids

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.

Recent Examples of humanity from the Web

The story might be important, but basic humanity and empathy will go further.

— christina coleman, Essence.com, "Harvey Survivor Who Criticized CNN Anchor Isn't Just 'Upset,' She's Traumatized And Exhausted," 30 Aug. 2017
The military operation then resulted in some 87,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh and the United Nations accused Myanmar's security forces of likely committing crimes against humanity.

— keshiahannam, Fortune, "12 Dead in Muslim Insurgent Attacks in Northwest Myanmar," 24 Aug. 2017
Plastics are one of humanity’s most wide-reaching, versatile and practical inventions, an influential creation arguably on par with the smelting of metal, but these unnatural materials have levied high ecological costs.

— aaron gilbreath, Longreads, "America’s Plastic Legacy," 10 Aug. 2017
And scientists and humanities scholars have different approaches: Given the concerns about DNA contamination, scientists prefer to touch books only with gloves.

— ann gibbons, Science | AAAS, "Goats, bookworms, a monk’s kiss: Biologists reveal the hidden history of ancient gospels," 25 July 2017
The Catholic Church says there are fundamental differences between men and women--the two are different expressions of humanity.

— the tylt, AL.com, "Should the Catholic Church allow women to become priests?," 24 July 2017
Engineering gene drives to do humanity’s bidding in this way proved, however, devilishly difficult.

— The Economist, "Gene drivesA promising means of pest control meets some evolutionary truths," 22 July 2017
Since then, the Pink Palace has been home to a wide range of humanity and at least one very helpful ghost named Avery.

— jeffrey lee puckett, The Courier-Journal, "Think pink: Louisville's landmark Pink Palace is back on the market for a cool $735,000," 20 July 2017
Just as important, the meeting represented the collision of humanity’s most ancient and durable form of economic organisation with its most powerful.

— The Economist, "Living off the land," 20 July 2017

These 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.