# human

Pronunciation: say "HYOO-muhn" /ˈhjuː.mən/

## Adjective

1. Relating to people as a species: belonging to Homo sapiens, or to the closely related extinct members of the genus Homo.
   - Simple: Belonging to people as a kind of living thing, or to their close early relatives, rather than to other animals or machines.
   - _The fossil showed clearly human features in the jaw and teeth._
   - _These tools are among the earliest signs of human activity._
3. Possessing the nature, traits, or qualities that belong to people.
   - Simple: Having the qualities or feelings that people normally have.
   - _Her warmth and humor made the robot seem strangely human._
   - _Compassion is one of our most human qualities._

## Noun

2. A person; a member of the species Homo sapiens, as distinct from other animals, from machines, or from imaginary beings.
   - Simple: A person (a man, woman or child), rather than another animal, a machine or an imaginary creature.
   - _Of all the primates, the human is the only one found on every continent._
   - _Biologists classify the human as a great ape alongside chimpanzees and gorillas._
4. Any hominid belonging to the genus Homo.
   - Simple: Any member of the group of upright apes that includes people and their close extinct relatives.
   - _Homo erectus was an early human that spread out of Africa._
   - _Researchers still debate which species was the first human._
5. A form of address directed at a person, naming only their species and implying it is their sole noteworthy trait.
   - Simple: A way of speaking to a person by calling them by their species, as if nothing else about them mattered.
   - _"Come no closer, human," the towering creature warned._
   - _"Your kind always fails, human," the alien sneered._

## Verb

6. To behave or function as a human; now mostly humorous, as in can't human, said by someone too tired to cope with ordinary life. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To act like a normal person. People mostly use it as a joke: "I can't human today."
   - _Give me a minute; I can't human until I've had my coffee._
   - _Some days, just getting dressed and humaning takes all my energy._

## Origin

From Late Middle English humaigne and humain, borrowed through Middle and Old French humain ("of or belonging to man"), from Latin hūmānus ("of man, human"). The spelling "human" has been the usual one since the early 18th century, and the word is probably not etymologically related to "man."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/human (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).