Where does “humility” come from?
Humility comes from Middle English humilite, from Old French umilité, from Latin humilitas, derived from Latin humilis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰéǵʰōm meaning earth or ground.
humility (English): The characteristic of being humble; humbleness in...
Definitions
- The characteristic of being humble; humbleness in...
Ancestry of “humility”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | humilite | — |
| 2 | Old French | umilité | humbleness; humility |
| 3 | Latin | humilitās | insignificance, lowliness, unimportance |
| 4 | Latin | humilis | low, lowly, small, slight; shallow; base, mean,... |
| 5 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |