humility

The story

1. Latin · derived fromhumilitas“lowness, meanness, baseness, in Late Latin humility”
2. Old French · derived from(h)umilité
3. Middle English · derived fromhumilite
4. English todayhumility

From Middle English humilite, from Old French (h)umilité, from Latin humilitas (“lowness, meanness, baseness, in Late Latin humility”), from humilis (“low, lowly, humble, earth”). Equivalent to humble + -ity, with /mb/ reduced to /m/ (compare plumbing). Displaced native Old English ēaþmōdnes. Doublet of omertà.

Words from the same roots