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Origin and history of humility

humility(n.)

early 14c., "quality of being humble," from Old French umelite "humility, modesty, sweetness" (Modern French humilité), from Latin humilitatem (nominative humilitas) "lowness, small stature; insignificance; baseness, littleness of mind," in Church Latin "meekness," from humilis "lowly, humble," literally "on the ground," from humus "earth" (from PIE root *dhghem- "earth"). In the Mercian hymns, Latin humilitatem is glossed by Old English eaðmodnisse.

humility

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to humility

*dhghem-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "earth."

It might form all or part of: antichthon; autochthon; autochthonic; bonhomie; bridegroom; camomile; chameleon; chernozem; chthonic; exhume; homage; hombre; homicide; hominid; Homo sapiens; homunculus; human; humane; humble; humiliate; humility; humus; inhumation; inhume; nemo; ombre; omerta.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit ksam- "earth" (opposed to "sky"); Greek khthōn "the earth, solid surface of the earth," khamai "on the ground;" Latin humus "earth, soil," humilis "low;" Lithuanian žemė, Old Church Slavonic zemlja "earth;" Old Irish du, genitive don "place," earlier "earth."

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    More to explore

    pride
    Middle English prede, from late Old English pryto, Kentish prede, Mercian pride "unreasonable self-esteem, especially as one of the deadly sins; haughtiness, overbearing treatment of others; pomp, love of display," from prud (see proud (adj.)). There is debate whether Scandinavia
    conceit
    late 14c., "a thought, a notion, that which is mentally conceived," from conceiven (see conceive) based on analogy of deceit/deceive and receipt/receive. The sense evolved from "something formed in the mind" to "fanciful or witty notion, ingenious thought" (1510s), to "vanity, ex
    omerta
    the leader and silence about the organization and its business, 1909, from Italian omertà, a dialectal form of umilta "humility...
    modest
    1560s, "having moderate self-regard, restrained by a sense of propriety or humility," from French modeste (14c.), from Latin...
    abjection
    c. 1400, "humbleness, low state, meanness of spirit, abject situation, groveling humility," from Old French abjection (14c...
    Edward
    The Christian humility of King Edward the Confessor brought such credit to this name that since that time it hath been most...
    meek
    Scandinavian source such as Old Norse mjukr "soft, pliant, gentle," from Proto-Germanic *meukaz (source also of Gothic muka-modei "humility...
    trait
    late 15c., "shot, missiles;" later "a stroke in drawing, a short line" (1580s), from French trait "line, stroke, feature, tract," from Latin tractus "drawing, drawing out, dragging, pulling," later "line drawn, feature," from past participle stem of trahere "to pull, draw" (see t
    submission
    late 14c., submissioun, "act of referring to a third party for judgment or decision," from Old French submission or directly from Latin submissionem (nominative submissio) "a lowering, letting down; sinking," noun of action from past-participle stem of submittere "to let down, pu
    suffrage
    late 14c., "prayer," especially "intercessory prayers or pleas on behalf of another," from Old French sofrage "plea, intercession" (13c.) and directly from Medieval Latin suffragium, from Latin suffragium "support, ballot, vote cast in an assembly; right of voting; a voting table

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