humanitas

Latin

Etymology

From hūmānus (“human”) +‎ -tās; coined by Cicero as a calque of Ancient Greek φιλανθρωπία (philanthrōpía).

Noun

hūmānitās f (genitive hūmānitātis); third declension

humaneness, humane conduct, philanthropy, benevolence, kindliness
- c. 37 CE – 41 CE, Seneca Maior, Controversiae 6.3:
  Caesar, quī apud tē audent dīcere, magnitūdinem tuam ignōrant; quī non audent, hūmānitātem.
  Caesar, those who dare to speak before you do not know your greatness; those who do not dare, do not know your benevolence.
courtesy, politeness, good manners, social grace
- 55 BCE, Cicero, De oratore 1.27:
  tantam in Crasso humanitatem fuisse, ut, cum lauti accubuissent, tolleretur omnis illa superioris tristitia sermonis.
  Such were the social graces of Crassus that, after they bathed and reclined (to eat), all that harshness of the earlier discussion was banished.
Synonym: cōmitās
refinement, culturedness, mental cultivation, liberal education
culture, civilization, especially as contrasted with barbarism
- c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.1.1:
  Hōrum omnium fortissimī sunt Belgae, proptereā quod ā cultū atque hūmānitāte prōvinciae longissimē absunt.
  Of all these (Gauls) the Belgae are the bravest, because they are farthest removed from the culture and civilization of the Province.
(Medieval Latin) humankind, the human race
- c. 730 CE
  Felix, The Life of St. Guthlac 41:
  vir Dei parentum sollicitudinem et vexatae humanitatis labores miserescens
  the man of God, pitying the anxiety of the parents and the sufferings of the tormented human race

Usage notes

In classical usage, the word does not denote "humankind" or "the human race" in a neutral sense, but invariably refers with a positive connotation to those higher qualities supposed to distinguish humans from beasts, viz. benevolence, sociability, cultivation, civilization, and so on. But the neutral sense is sometimes found in postclassical Latin.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	hūmānitās	hūmānitātēs
genitive	hūmānitātis	hūmānitātum
dative	hūmānitātī	hūmānitātibus
accusative	hūmānitātem	hūmānitātēs
ablative	hūmānitāte	hūmānitātibus
vocative	hūmānitās	hūmānitātēs

Descendants

→ Catalan: humanitat
→ English: humanity
→ German: Humanität
→ French: humanité
→ Italian: umanità
→ Old Galician-Portuguese: humanidade
- Galician: humanidade, humanidá (traditional but proscribed)
- Portuguese: humanidade
→ Romanian: umanitate
→ Spanish: humanidad

References

“humanitas”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
“humanitas”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
"humanitas", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
“humanitas”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- to be quite uncivilised: omnis cultus et humanitatis expertem esse
- to be quite uncivilised: ab omni cultu et humanitate longe abesse (B. G. 1. 1. 3)
- to teach a person refinement: aliquem ad humanitatem informare or instituere
- the usual subjects taught to boys: artes, quibus aetas puerilis ad humanitatem informari solet
- to be quite insensible to all feelings of humanity: omnem humanitatem exuisse, abiecisse (Lig. 5. 14)
- to be quite insensible of all feelings to humanity: omnem humanitatis sensum amisisse
- to be absolutely wanting in sympathy: omnis humanitatis expertem esse
- to stifle, repress all humane sentiments in one's mind: omnem humanitatem ex animo exstirpare (Amic. 13. 48)
- a most courteous letter: litterae officii or humanitatis plenae
humanitas in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016