English
humanely
Humanely comes from Middle French humain ‘human’, and goes back to Latin hūmānus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhūmānus1‘human’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400umain1‘human’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600humain1‘human’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500humayne2‘human’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500humanly3
- Englishearliest quotation 2015humanely3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Middle English humayne
- 2 Wiktionary, Middle English humanly
- 3 Wiktionary, English humanely
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015: “The study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhūmānusWiktionary, Middle English humayne‘human’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400umainWiktionary, Middle English humayne‘human’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600humainWiktionary, Middle English humayne‘human’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500humayneWiktionary, Middle English humanly‘human’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500humanlyWiktionary, English humanely
- Englishearliest quotation 2015humanelyWiktionary, English humanely. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015: “The study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰmṓ ‘human’
through Latin hemō
through Latin homō ‘human’
homo, homage, hombre, ombre, omi, inhumane, homunculus, hominin, inhumanity, 10 more
through Latin hūmānus ‘human’
Today it means
adv In a humane manner.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “humanely”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English humayne, Middle English humanly. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin hūmānus / humanely