Where does “humanitarian” come from?
Humanitarian derives from English humanitarianism, which comes from Middle English humanitye, Old French humanité, Latin humanitas (meaning "human nature" or "kindness"), formed from Latin homo (meaning "man" or "human being") with the suffix -tas, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰéǵʰōm.
humanitarian (English): Concerned with people's welfare, and the...
Definitions
- Concerned with people's welfare, and the...
Ancestry of “humanitarian”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | humanity | Mankind; human beings as a group; The human... |
| 2 | Middle English | humanyte | The condition or behaviour of humans; human... |
| 3 | Old French | humanité | humanity; humankind |
| 4 | Latin | humanitas | humanity, human nature; humaneness, humane... |
| 5 | Latin | hūmānus | human (of man, people) |
| 6 | Latin | homō | human, person, man |
| 7 | Old Latin | hemō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | hemō | man |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | ǵʰmṓ | earthling |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰéǵʰōm | earth |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōm | emphatic suffix or postpositive particle |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -mi | — |