humble definition

English humble definition

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhʌmbəl/
• (obsolete, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʌmbəl/

• Audio (GA)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ʌmbəl
• Hyphenation: hum‧ble

Etymology 1

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμαλός (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōd.

The verb is from Middle English humblen (“to humble”).

Adjective

humble (comparative humbler or more humble, superlative humblest or most humble)

1. Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.

   He lives in a humble one-bedroom cottage.

   • 17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches

     The wise example of the heavenly lark.
     Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark,
     Above the clouds let thy proud music sound,
     Thy humble nest build on the ground.

2. Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

   Synonyms: unassuming, modest

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, James 4:6:

     But he giueth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proude, but giueth grace vnto the humble.

   • a. 1722, Matthew Prior, “Cloe Jealous”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan, […], published 1779, OCLC 491256769, stanza V, page 109:

     She ſhould be humble, who would pleaſe;
       And ſhe muſt ſuffer, who can love.

   • 2012 June 28, Jamie Jackson, “Wimbledon 2012: Lukas Rosol shocked by miracle win over Rafael Nadal”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London:

     Rosol's 65 winners to Nadal's 41 was one of the crucial statistics in the 3hr 18min match that ended in a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph labelled a "miracle" by Rosol, who was humble enough to offer commiserations to Nadal.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:humble

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i]:

     Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, 1 Peter 5:6:

     Humble yourselues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God, that hee may exalt you in due time,

   • 1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323, pages 68–69:

     But, after the death of the master, the servant proved himself capable of supplying with eminent ability the master's place, and was renowned throughout Europe as one of the great Triumvirate which humbled the pride of Lewis the Fourteenth.

2. (transitive, often reflexive) To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.
   • 1979 September 27, Leonard Cohen (lyrics and music), “Humbled in Love”, in Recent Songs:

     And you say you've been humbled in love / Cut down in your love / Forced to kneel in the mud next to me

   • 2015 April 8, Dana Spiotta, “T. C. Boyle’s ‘The Harder They Come’”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     The final, quiet moments of the book return to Sten; his experience of his sick son humbles him, just as his aging body humbles him, and Boyle seems to suggest this makes him a better man.

Synonyms

• abase, lower, depress, humiliate, mortify, disgrace, degrade

Derived terms

• humblehood
• humbleness
• humbler (agent noun)
• humbly

Translations

Noun

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Baltimore, slang) An arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.
   • 2004 October 17, Ed Burns, “Straight and True”, in The Wire, season 3, episode 5, HBO, spoken by Howard "Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom):

     You're on a corner in my district, it ain't gonna be about no humble, it ain't gonna be about no loitering charge, nothing like that. There gonna be some biblical shit happening to you on the way to that motherfucking jail wagon.

   • 2005 April 23, Gregory Kane, “'Jive humble' arrests help fill Central Booking's cell”, in Baltimore Sun:

     Years ago, guys on Baltimore's streets would have, by definition, called an arrest for loitering a "humble."

   • 2015 April 29, “David Simon on Baltimore’s Anguish”, in The Marshall Project‎^[3]:

     A humble is a cheap, inconsequential arrest that nonetheless gives the guy a night or two in jail before he sees a court commissioner. You can arrest people on “failure to obey,” it’s a humble. Loitering is a humble. These things were used by police officers going back to the ‘60s in Baltimore. It’s the ultimate recourse for a cop who doesn't like somebody who's looking at him the wrong way.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *humblen, *humbelen (suggested by humblynge (“a humming, a faint rumbling”)), frequentative of Middle English hummen (“to hum”), equivalent to hum +‎ -le.

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (intransitive, chiefly obsolete) To hum.

   humbling and bumbling

Derived terms

• humblebee

Etymology 3

Noun

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, also attributive) Alternative form of hummel.

   humble cattle

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (transitive) Alternative form of hummel.

Further reading

• humble in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• humble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

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French humble definition

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμαλός (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”).

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /œ̃bl/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -œ̃bl
• Homophone: humbles

Adjective

humble (plural humbles)

1. humble

Related terms

• àmha
• à mon humble avis
• humblement
• humiliation
• humilier
• humilité

Further reading

• “humble”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Old French humble definition

Adjective

humble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular humble)

1. Alternative form of umble
   • circa 1170, Wace, Le Roman de Rou:

     Richart fu verz Dex humble, volentiers le servi

     Richard was humble towards God, and served him willingly

Declension