milk of human kindness

noun

Compassion shown to other people.

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Meanings

nounmilk of human kindness (uncountable)
  1. idiomaticuncountableCompassion shown to other people.

    A pwt. of butter made from the milk of human kindness.

    1846, editorial staff, “More Curiosities: For the new Fancy Museum”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 2, Issue 13, page 97
    1 more example

    Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be / What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; / It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness / To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great, / Art not without ambition, but without / The illness should attend it.

    c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v], page 134, column 1

Origin

First used by Shakespeare in Macbeth (see quotations).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

milk of human kindness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milk%20of%20human%20kindness

MLA

“milk of human kindness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milk%20of%20human%20kindness. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “milk of human kindness,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/milk%20of%20human%20kindness.

Source: milk of human kindness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.