The story
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: Preferring human beings to other animals. It especially alludes to (i) bloodsucking arthropods such as mosquitos, denoting the preference of a parasite for the human host as a source of blood or tissues over an animal host; and (ii) dermatophytic fungi which grow preferentially on humans. Full definition →
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.