Humane

English

Adjective

Humane (comparative more Humane, superlative most Humane)

1. Having regard for the health and well-being of another; compassionate.

   It is no longer considered humane to perform vivisection on research animals.

2. Pertaining to branches of learning concerned with human affairs or the humanities, especially classical literature or rhetoric.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.3.7:

     many divine precepts to counterpoise our hearts, special antidotes both in scriptures and humane authors, which who so will observe, shall purchase much ease and quietness unto himself.

3. Obsolete spelling of human.

Adverbs for Humane

benevolently; tenderly; intelligently; consistently; dependably; charitably; comfortingly; considerately; graciously; warmly; mercifully; philanthropically; altruistically; patriotically; generously; leniently; admirably; wonderfully; actively; naturally; habitually.

Synonyms for Humane

kind, benevolent, pitying, merciful, sympathetic, compassionate, kind-hearted, civilized, spiritual, human, forgiving, gracious, charitable, benignant, gentle, benign, indulgent, lenient.

Antonyms for Humane

inhuman, inhumane, uncivilized, atrocious, savage, pitiless, cruel, barbaric, merciless, brutal, dangerous, rude, uncouth, untamed, wild, fierce, brutish, ferocious, degrading, harsh, unmerciful.

Derived terms

• humanely

Related terms

See also

human humanist

humanitarian humanity

Thesaurus

Christian, Christlike, Christly, accepting, affectionate, altruistic, benevolent, benign, benignant, bleeding, brotherly, charitable, chickenhearted, clement, commiserative, compassionate, condolent, decent, easy, easygoing, eleemosynary, forbearant, forbearing, forgiving, fraternal, gentle, good, gracious, human, humanitarian, kind, kindhearted, kindly, kindly-disposed, lax, lenient, loving, melting, merciful, mild, moderate, nice, patient, philanthropic, pitying, ruthful, soft, softhearted, sympathetic, sympathizing, tender, tenderhearted, tolerant, understanding, warm, warmhearted

Etymology

Variant form of human, now preserved in specialized senses.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /hjuːˈmeɪn/

  Rhymes: -eɪn

Translations

with regard for the health and well-being of another

Armenian: մարդկային (hy) (mardkayin) Dutch: humaan (nl) Esperanto: humana (eo) Finnish: inhimillinen (fi) Georgian: ჰუმანური (ka) German: human (de), menschlich (de) Icelandic: mannúðlegur (is)

Polish: ludzki (pl) m., humanitarny (pl) m. Portuguese: humano (pt) Russian: человечный (ru) (čelov'éčnyj), гуманный (ru) (gumánnyj) Scottish Gaelic: truacanta (gd) Spanish: humano (es) Swedish: human (sv)

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1989

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Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA: /huˈmane/
• Hyphenation: hu‧ma‧ne

Adverb

Humane

1. humanely

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Latin

Etymology

From hūmānus (“humane, noble”)

Adverb

hūmānē (comparative hūmānius, superlative hūmānissimē)

1. humanly, in a human manner.
2. humanely, kindly, politely; in a humane manner.

Synonyms

• (humanly): hūmāniter, hūmānitus
• (humanely): hūmāniter, hūmānitus

Related terms

See also

hūmāna hūmānitas hūmāniter hūmānitus

hūmānō hūmānum hūmānus

References

• Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, 1st edition. (Oxford University Press)

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Swedish

Adjective

Humane

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of human.