# humble

Pronunciation: say "HUM-buhl" /ˈhʌmbəl/

## Adjective

1. Having a low opinion of one's own importance; not proud, arrogant, or assuming.
   - Simple: Modest about yourself, and not acting proud or better than other people.
   - _Despite her fame, she remained remarkably humble about her achievements._
   - _The scientist gave a humble speech, crediting her entire team for the discovery._
2. Not pretentious or grand; modest in size, appearance, or pretension.
   - Simple: Simple and plain, not large, fancy, or grand.
   - _The restaurant began as a humble food stall before becoming famous._
   - _Her humble cottage stood in sharp contrast to the mansions nearby._

## Verb

3. To make someone less proud or arrogant, or to defeat and lower them in power, standing, or self-importance.
   - Simple: To make someone feel less proud or important, often by beating them.
   - _The defeat humbled the once-confident champion._
   - _Failure can humble even the most arrogant leader._

## Verb

4. To produce a low, droning sound; to hum. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make a low, soft sound, like a bee or like someone humming.

## Other meanings

- (noun) An arrest based on weak evidence, made to demean or punish the person rather than to prosecute a genuine crime.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2** — It came through Middle English and Old French humble from Latin humilis ('low', and so 'mean' or 'humble'), from humus ('the earth, ground'). It replaced the native Old English word ēaþmōd.
**Meaning 3** — This verb was made from the adjective humble. In Middle English it was humblen, meaning "to humble."
**Meaning 4** — Middle English is thought to have had a verb *humblen or *humbelen, a form implied by humblynge ("a humming, a faint rumbling"). It was a frequentative, or repeated-action, form of Middle English hummen ("to hum"), the same as hum + -le.

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