Meanings
plural humilities
- uncountableusuallyThe characteristic of being humble; humbleness in character and behavior.
You can tell his humility is real by how he treats ordinary people.
2 more examples
She had established a character for humility, discretion, noiselessness and religion which Mrs. Piper greatly regretted losing.
1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 193By the end of the tenth century, Edith's humility had inspired a cult of holy wells in Kent, Staffordshire, and Herefordshire.
1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 170Synonyms: egolessness, humilitude, meekness, modesty, self-effacement · Antonyms: pride
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe characteristic of being humble; humbleness in character and behavior.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinhumilitas“lowness, meanness, baseness, in Late Latin humility”
- Old French(h)umilité
- Middle Englishhumilite
- Englishhumility
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.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ταπεινότης, ταπεινοφροσύνη
- ταπεινότης (tapeinótēs)characteristic of being humble
- ταπεινοφροσύνη (tapeinophrosúnē)characteristic of being humble
Arabic تَوَاضُع
- تَوَاضُع (tawāḍuʕ)characteristic of being humble
Bulgarian смире́ност, поко́рност
- смире́ност (smirénost)characteristic of being humble
- поко́рност (pokórnost)characteristic of being humble
- смире́ние (smirénie)characteristic of being humble
- скро́мност (skrómnost)characteristic of being humble
Catalan humilitat
- humilitatcharacteristic of being humble
Chinese Mandarin 謙卑 /谦卑, 謙遜 /谦逊
- 謙卑 /谦卑 (qiānbēi)characteristic of being humble
- 謙遜 /谦逊 (qiānxùn)characteristic of being humble
Czech pokora, skromnost
- pokoracharacteristic of being humble
- skromnostcharacteristic of being humble
Danish ydmyghed
- ydmyghedcharacteristic of being humble
Dutch nederigheid, deemoed
- nederigheidcharacteristic of being humble
- deemoedcharacteristic of being humble
Esperanto humileco
- humilecocharacteristic of being humble
Finnish nöyryys
- nöyryyscharacteristic of being humble
French humilité
- humilitécharacteristic of being humble
German Bescheidenheit, Demut
- Bescheidenheitcharacteristic of being humble
- Demutcharacteristic of being humble
Greek ταπεινότητα
- ταπεινότητα (tapeinótita)characteristic of being humble
Hebrew צְנִיעוּת, ענווה
- צְנִיעוּת (tsniút)characteristic of being humble
- ענווה (anavá)characteristic of being humble
Hindi विनम्रता, नम्रता
- विनम्रता (vinamratā)characteristic of being humble
- नम्रता (namratā)characteristic of being humble
- विनय (vinay)characteristic of being humble
Hungarian alázat
- alázatcharacteristic of being humble
Icelandic hógværð, auðmýkt
- hógværðcharacteristic of being humble
- auðmýktcharacteristic of being humble
Indonesian kerendahhatian, kerendahan hati
- kerendahhatiancharacteristic of being humble
- kerendahan haticharacteristic of being humble
Irish uirísle, umhlaíocht
- uiríslecharacteristic of being humble
- umhlaíochtcharacteristic of being humble
Italian umiltà
- umiltàcharacteristic of being humble
Japanese 謙遜
- 謙遜 (kenson)characteristic of being humble
Korean 겸손
- 겸손 (gyeomson)characteristic of being humble
Māori māhaki, māhakitanga
- māhakicharacteristic of being humble
- māhakitangacharacteristic of being humble
Norwegian Bokmål ydmykhet
- ydmykhetcharacteristic of being humble
Persian تواضع
- تواضع (tavâzo')characteristic of being humble
Polish pokora
- pokoracharacteristic of being humble
Portuguese humildade
- humildadecharacteristic of being humble
Romanian umilință, umilitate
- umilințăcharacteristic of being humble
- umilitatecharacteristic of being humble
Russian скро́мность, смире́ние
- скро́мность (skrómnostʹ)characteristic of being humble
- смире́ние (smirénije)characteristic of being humble
- поко́рность (pokórnostʹ)characteristic of being humble
- смире́нность (smirénnostʹ)characteristic of being humble
Slovak pokora, skromnosť
- pokoracharacteristic of being humble
- skromnosťcharacteristic of being humble
Spanish humildad
- humildadcharacteristic of being humble
Swedish ödmjukhet
- ödmjukhetcharacteristic of being humble
Thai ความถ่อมตัว, ความนอบน้อม
- ความถ่อมตัวcharacteristic of being humble
- ความนอบน้อมcharacteristic of being humble
Turkish tevazu
- tevazucharacteristic of being humble
Ukrainian покі́рність, покі́рливість
- покі́рність (pokírnistʹ)characteristic of being humble
- покі́рливість (pokírlyvistʹ)characteristic of being humble
- смире́нність (smyrénnistʹ)characteristic of being humble
- скро́мність (skrómnistʹ)characteristic of being humble
Yiddish שפֿלות
- שפֿלות (shifles)characteristic of being humble
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with humility
Cite this entry
humility. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humility
“humility.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humility. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “humility,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/humility.
Source: humility on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.