humaneadj.

Brit.

/hjʊˈmeɪn/,

/ˌhjuːˈmeɪn/, U.S.

/hjuˈmeɪn/

Forms: late Middle English–1500s humayne, 1500s humain, 1500s humaine, 1500s– humane, 1600s–1700s human.

Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: human adj.

Etymology: Originally a variant of human adj., now usually distinguished in form in the senses below (compare -ane suffix¹).On the form and pronunciation history see discussion at human adj.

a. Originally: †civil, courteous, or obliging towards others (obsolete). In later use: characterized by sympathy with and consideration for others; feeling or showing compassion towards humans or animals; benevolent, kind.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > [adjective]

metheOE

hendc1225

debonairc1230

hendya1250

courteousc1275

hendlyc1275

bonairc1300

quaintc1300

sweetc1330

graciousa1375

meetha1400

debonary1402

debonariousc1485

humanec1500

civil1565

genty1660

discreet1739

polite1751

politeful1832

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [adjective]

mildeOE

blitheOE

goodOE

well-willingOE

beina1200

goodfulc1275

blithefula1300

faira1300

benignc1320

gainc1330

sweetc1330

kinda1333

propicec1350

well-willeda1382

well-disposeda1393

well-hearteda1393

well-willinga1393

friendsomea1400

well-willya1400

charitablec1405

well-willed1417

good-heartedc1425

kindlyc1425

honeyed1435

propitious1440

affectuousc1441

willya1449

homelyc1450

benevolous1470

benigned1470

benevolent1482

favourousc1485

well-meaned1488

well-meaning1498

humanec1500

favourablec1503

affectionatea1516

well-mindedc1522

beneficial1526

propiciant1531

benignate1533

well-intendeda1535

beneficious1535

kind-hearted1535

well-given1535

affectioned1539

well-wishing1548

figgy?1549

good-meaning1549

affectedc1553

affectionated1561

well-natured1561

well-affected?1563

officious1565

well-inclined1569

good-natured1582

partial1587

graceful?1593

well-intentioned1598

beneficent1616

candid1633

kindlike1637

benefic1641

kindly-hearted1762

well-meant1765

benignanta1782

sweet-hearted1850

the mind > emotion > compassion > [adjective] > pitying or compassionate

ruefulc1225

ruthfulc1225

piteousc1300

pietousa1393

rueinga1400

piec1429

compassionable1548

compassioned?1578

miserable1584

compassionate1587

pitying1589

eleemosynous?1590

humane1603

compassionful1604

remorsive1606

remorseful1610

compassive1612

yearnful1633

the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [adjective] > humane

manlyc1400

humane1603

civil1609

humanitarian1844

c1500 Melusine (1895) 111 Be meke, humble, swete, curtoys & humayne, both vnto grete & lesse.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 316/1 Humayne, courtoyse or belongyng to the nature of a man, humayn.

1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. sig. Avi^v Euen dreaming [he] was moued with so pensyfe a regarde of his charge towarde his prince, and with so humain a thought toward all men els.

1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1270 As his martiall valour is humane [Fr. humaine; Gk. ϕιλάνθρωπον], so his humanitie is valorous.

1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 387 The people are very humane, ingenious, eloquent and pleasant.

1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice ii. 159 If there be not often seen Noble Persons hanging by the heels betwixt the Pillars of St. Mark, 'tis not that they are grown more humane or compassionate, but they have found out new and more private ways.

1713 C. Cibber tr. P. Corneille in Cinna's Conspiracy ii. i. 14 But Julius, Gracious, Courteous, and Humane, Amidst the Senate saw himself assassin'd.

1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies II. lii. 260 He was very human, and sent the poor Seamen Presents.

a1774 Z. Pearce Serm. (1778) IV. xiv. 314 Christianity (the most compassionate and humane religion in the world).

1785 W. Cowper Task v. 469 That humane address And sweetness.

1788 P. Stockdale Ximenes ii. i. 25 Your conqueror, You find, is far humaner than your prince.

1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 152 The humane spirit of the British law, which supposes every man..innocent, till..proved..guilty.

1814 D. H. O'Brien Narr. Captiv. & Escape 79 The jailer here..was the most humane man in that situation I ever knew.

1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. viii. 480 The humane and enlightened measures of Henry IV.

1900 Times 1 Jan. 8/3 Grotius..was the first to befriend the non-combatant and to insist on war being humane as far as possible.

1958 K. D. Mellen Island Kingdom Passes xviii. 168 The lepers had been treated in a humane manner only since Gibson became president of the Board of Health.

2000 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 Oct. 31/1 Myrer wants to contrast Damon's honorable, humane pragmatism with the anti-Semitic, racist, and fascistic attitudes of Massengale.

b. Designed or calculated to inflict minimal pain. Cf. humane killer n. at Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > killing > killing of animals > [adjective] > means of killing cattle

humane1904

society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > [adjective] > quality of, generally

starkOE

stiffc1250

sterna1400

vengeablec1400

unwieldya1547

vengefula1586

mistempered1597

maiden1598

lathen1843

humane1970

1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xiii. 5 Mrs. Varden, regarding the Maypole as a sort of humane man-trap, or decoy for husbands.

1865 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 2nd Ser. 1 ii. 252 I prefer searing at about eight or ten weeks as a..more humane process than drawing... I have never lost a lamb from searing.

?1891 Proc. Amer. Soc. Microscopists 1890 12 14 Experiments made by myself..to inquire into the most humane method of executing criminals.

1904 Daily Chron. 24 May 5/3 The doctors style the bullets ‘humane’.

1933 Times 27 Sept. 12/1 Flap nets in the hands of a thoroughly qualified person were the most..humane way of catching birds.

1970 Guardian Weekly 15 Aug. 18 Beyond that lie the use of ecocidal weapons—herbicides in Vietnam—and ‘humane incapacitants’.

2006 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 1 Oct. i. 16/2 Using a humane trap loaded with fish cat food, Palfalvi caught three of them [sc. kittens] and helped find homes for each.

2. Designating those texts or branches of study which concern humanity, or which (historically) have been regarded as exercising a civilizing influence on the student or reader; esp. designating classical grammar, rhetoric, or literature. Also occasionally more generally: elegant, polite. Cf. humanity n. 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > literature > [adjective] > specific types of literature > ancient classical

humane1552

classical1691

society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective]

fairOE

facundc1381

rhetorian?c1400

facundious1430

rhetoricalc1450

elegantc1475

rhetorial1521

concinnate1548

humane1552

concinne1569

Attic1633

compt1633

concinnated1868

stylish1892

Atticistic1919

1552 J. Caius Bk. against Sweatyng Sicknesse f. 6 I endeuoured my selfe..to declare vpon theim the profite of my studie in ciuile and humane learnynge.

1587 Edinb. Test. XVII. f. 242^v His haill buikis..quhairof he leiffis..the humane buikis to his secund sonne.

1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. vi. v. 448 Aristotle, the Oracle of all humane literature, excludes these Stage-playes out of his Republicke; debarring youthes and children from them, as being apt to poyson both their mindes and manners.

1677 J. Hanmer Αρχαιοσκοπια 356 Being..of a sharp and piercing judgment; which he cultured and improved by the study of the Liberal Arts, and other Humane Learning.

1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses I. 269 Edward Grant..the most noted Latinist and Grecian of his time. He was well skill'd in all kind of humane literature.

1701 tr. J. Le Clerc Lives Primitive Fathers 174 To learn Humane Learning; that is to say, to understand the Greek Poets and Orators, and to write well in that Tongue.

1717 Boston News-let. 17 Dec. 2/2 Considering his Superiour Genius,..his great acquisition in humane Learning and Knowledge, his Conversation among Men.

1824 T. L. Beddoes Let. 6 Dec. in Wks. (1935) 593 Lost to all German and all humane learning, o'erhusked with sweet dozing sloth.

1877 J. A. Symonds Reviv. Learning in Renaissance in Italy ii. 71 (note) The word Humanism has a German sound, and is in fact modern. Yet the generic phrase umanità for humanistic culture, and the name umanista for a professor of humane studies, are both pure Italian.

1964 A. Richardson Hist. Sacred & Profane i. 36 The Church in the seventeenth century became a patron of scholarship, upholding the Laudian ideal of a learned clergy and championing humane studies against the attacks of the Puritans.

2002 Renaissance Q. 55 1005 The humane disciplines of grammar, letters, poetry, history, rhetoric, and moral philosophy..became the intellectual heritage of the educated elite of western Europe.

Compounds

humane killer n. an instrument for the painless slaughter or destruction of animals.

ΚΠ

1896 Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 20 June There is in Nice, France, a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, that has introduced there for slaughter house use a new invention called ‘Greener's humane cattle killer’.]

1900 Times 30 May 14/1 An experiment was made a few months back with an instrument know as the ‘Humane Killer’ which consisted of a rifled barrel..which was discharged by being struck with a mallet by the operator.

1920 Act 10 & 11 George V c. 43 §(8) (h) Any..butcher..having in his possession..any humane killer for the purpose of such business.

1984 B. MacLaverty Cal (new ed.) 8 The humane killer cracked again and Cal saw the killing pen tip over and tumble a beast on to the floor, its legs stiff to the ceiling.

2002 T. Cadden Good Form xiii. 106 The other alternative is to have your horse shot. This is generally done with a humane killer, a captive bolt—not a rifle shot at long range with a telescopic sight.

Humane Society n. (also with lower-case initials) (a) (the name of) any of various organizations promoting the saving of human lives, and (in early use) esp. the revival of drowning persons through resuscitation; (b) (chiefly North American) (the name of) any of various organizations devoted to the prevention of cruelty to animals.The organization founded in London in 1774 as the ‘Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned’ was renamed the ‘Humane Society’ in 1776; it has been known as the Royal Humane Society since 1787, although it was not formally granted a royal charter until 1958.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > safety > rescue or deliverance > [noun] > one who rescues or delivers > from drowning > society or organization

Humane Society1776

1776 Minutes Soc. Recov. Persons app. drowned 8 May That this Society in future be distinguished by the name of ‘The Humane Society’.

1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 219 The men of the Humane Society..came hurrying, with their apparatus for resuscitation.

1896 V. Hunt in Cosmopolis Sept. 617 I chose the darkest place, farthest from the Humane Society's drags.

1931 H. B. Weiss & G. M. Ziegler Thomas Say i. 23 The signs of the Humane Society were familiar along the waterfront as late as 1840 or 1850.

1970 P. Berton National Dream iv. iii. 165 How worried would be any member of the Humane society, could he see the treatment animals in a Pack Train receive.

1992 Scotsman 16 Apr. 14/8 Mathew Abbott received the Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Parchment & Resuscitation Certificate.

2006 New Yorker 9 Jan. 62/2 A dozen determined, don't-joke-about-it dog-rescuers from the Humane Society.

humane letters n. [after French lettres humaines (16th cent. in Middle French as letres humaines ) and its model post-classical Latin litterae humaniores literae humaniores n.] = the humanities at humanity n. 2.

ΚΠ

1610 E. Bolton Elements of Armories sig. A3 Generous, and learned Reader (for to such onely doth this part of humane letters [sc. Heraldry] appertaine).

1746 J. Upton Crit. Observ. Shakespeare i. iv. 28 The more liberal sciences and humane letters, are not the natural growth of these Gothic and northern regions.

1793 Beawes's Civil Hist. Spain & Portugal I. 367 Paulus Manucius (the Person so distinguished in the Study and Knowledge of humane Letters) said of himself, that, compared with others, he was something in Literature, but nothing in Comparison with Antonius Augustinus.

1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons II. iv. v. 66 Thou art acquainted, doubtless..with the Humaner Letters?

1891 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 1 395 Literary prejudices which caused classical models to be regarded as the only humane letters.

1905 Eng. Hist. Rev. 20 341 To most of Dr. Sandys's readers it will be news how long humane letters held their own at Orleans and Poitiers.

1981 J. Cheever Jrnls. (1991) 371 The faculty and student body have enthusiastically chosen me to receive an honorary doctorate in humane letters.

2003 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 67 895 Oppenheimer..comfortably dwelled in the intertwined American and international worlds of physics and humane letters.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	humane
释义	humaneadj. Brit. /hjʊˈmeɪn/, /ˌhjuːˈmeɪn/, U.S. /hjuˈmeɪn/ Forms: late Middle English–1500s humayne, 1500s humain, 1500s humaine, 1500s– humane, 1600s–1700s human. Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: human adj. Etymology: Originally a variant of human adj., now usually distinguished in form in the senses below (compare -ane suffix¹).On the form and pronunciation history see discussion at human adj. 1. a. Originally: †civil, courteous, or obliging towards others (obsolete). In later use: characterized by sympathy with and consideration for others; feeling or showing compassion towards humans or animals; benevolent, kind. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > [adjective] metheOE hendc1225 debonairc1230 hendya1250 courteousc1275 hendlyc1275 bonairc1300 quaintc1300 sweetc1330 graciousa1375 meetha1400 debonary1402 debonariousc1485 humanec1500 civil1565 genty1660 discreet1739 polite1751 politeful1832 the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [adjective] mildeOE blitheOE goodOE well-willingOE beina1200 goodfulc1275 blithefula1300 faira1300 benignc1320 gainc1330 sweetc1330 kinda1333 propicec1350 well-willeda1382 well-disposeda1393 well-hearteda1393 well-willinga1393 friendsomea1400 well-willya1400 charitablec1405 well-willed1417 good-heartedc1425 kindlyc1425 honeyed1435 propitious1440 affectuousc1441 willya1449 homelyc1450 benevolous1470 benigned1470 benevolent1482 favourousc1485 well-meaned1488 well-meaning1498 humanec1500 favourablec1503 affectionatea1516 well-mindedc1522 beneficial1526 propiciant1531 benignate1533 well-intendeda1535 beneficious1535 kind-hearted1535 well-given1535 affectioned1539 well-wishing1548 figgy?1549 good-meaning1549 affectedc1553 affectionated1561 well-natured1561 well-affected?1563 officious1565 well-inclined1569 good-natured1582 partial1587 graceful?1593 well-intentioned1598 beneficent1616 candid1633 kindlike1637 benefic1641 kindly-hearted1762 well-meant1765 benignanta1782 sweet-hearted1850 the mind > emotion > compassion > [adjective] > pitying or compassionate ruefulc1225 ruthfulc1225 piteousc1300 pietousa1393 rueinga1400 piec1429 compassionable1548 compassioned?1578 miserable1584 compassionate1587 pitying1589 eleemosynous?1590 humane1603 compassionful1604 remorsive1606 remorseful1610 compassive1612 yearnful1633 the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > [adjective] > humane manlyc1400 humane1603 civil1609 humanitarian1844 c1500 Melusine (1895) 111 Be meke, humble, swete, curtoys & humayne, both vnto grete & lesse. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 316/1 Humayne, courtoyse or belongyng to the nature of a man, humayn. 1548 W. Patten Exped. Scotl. sig. Avi^v Euen dreaming [he] was moued with so pensyfe a regarde of his charge towarde his prince, and with so humain a thought toward all men els. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1270 As his martiall valour is humane [Fr. humaine; Gk. ϕιλάνθρωπον], so his humanitie is valorous. 1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 387 The people are very humane, ingenious, eloquent and pleasant. 1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice ii. 159 If there be not often seen Noble Persons hanging by the heels betwixt the Pillars of St. Mark, 'tis not that they are grown more humane or compassionate, but they have found out new and more private ways. 1713 C. Cibber tr. P. Corneille in Cinna's Conspiracy ii. i. 14 But Julius, Gracious, Courteous, and Humane, Amidst the Senate saw himself assassin'd. 1727 A. Hamilton New Acct. E. Indies II. lii. 260 He was very human, and sent the poor Seamen Presents. a1774 Z. Pearce Serm. (1778) IV. xiv. 314 Christianity (the most compassionate and humane religion in the world). 1785 W. Cowper Task v. 469 That humane address And sweetness. 1788 P. Stockdale Ximenes ii. i. 25 Your conqueror, You find, is far humaner than your prince. 1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 152 The humane spirit of the British law, which supposes every man..innocent, till..proved..guilty. 1814 D. H. O'Brien Narr. Captiv. & Escape 79 The jailer here..was the most humane man in that situation I ever knew. 1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. viii. 480 The humane and enlightened measures of Henry IV. 1900 Times 1 Jan. 8/3 Grotius..was the first to befriend the non-combatant and to insist on war being humane as far as possible. 1958 K. D. Mellen Island Kingdom Passes xviii. 168 The lepers had been treated in a humane manner only since Gibson became president of the Board of Health. 2000 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 5 Oct. 31/1 Myrer wants to contrast Damon's honorable, humane pragmatism with the anti-Semitic, racist, and fascistic attitudes of Massengale. b. Designed or calculated to inflict minimal pain. Cf. humane killer n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > killing > killing of animals > [adjective] > means of killing cattle humane1904 society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > [adjective] > quality of, generally starkOE stiffc1250 sterna1400 vengeablec1400 unwieldya1547 vengefula1586 mistempered1597 maiden1598 lathen1843 humane1970 1841 C. Dickens Barnaby Rudge xiii. 5 Mrs. Varden, regarding the Maypole as a sort of humane man-trap, or decoy for husbands. 1865 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 2nd Ser. 1 ii. 252 I prefer searing at about eight or ten weeks as a..more humane process than drawing... I have never lost a lamb from searing. ?1891 Proc. Amer. Soc. Microscopists 1890 12 14 Experiments made by myself..to inquire into the most humane method of executing criminals. 1904 Daily Chron. 24 May 5/3 The doctors style the bullets ‘humane’. 1933 Times 27 Sept. 12/1 Flap nets in the hands of a thoroughly qualified person were the most..humane way of catching birds. 1970 Guardian Weekly 15 Aug. 18 Beyond that lie the use of ecocidal weapons—herbicides in Vietnam—and ‘humane incapacitants’. 2006 Chicago Tribune (Midwest ed.) 1 Oct. i. 16/2 Using a humane trap loaded with fish cat food, Palfalvi caught three of them [sc. kittens] and helped find homes for each. 2. Designating those texts or branches of study which concern humanity, or which (historically) have been regarded as exercising a civilizing influence on the student or reader; esp. designating classical grammar, rhetoric, or literature. Also occasionally more generally: elegant, polite. Cf. humanity n. 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > literature > [adjective] > specific types of literature > ancient classical humane1552 classical1691 society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > elegance > [adjective] fairOE facundc1381 rhetorian?c1400 facundious1430 rhetoricalc1450 elegantc1475 rhetorial1521 concinnate1548 humane1552 concinne1569 Attic1633 compt1633 concinnated1868 stylish1892 Atticistic1919 1552 J. Caius Bk. against Sweatyng Sicknesse f. 6 I endeuoured my selfe..to declare vpon theim the profite of my studie in ciuile and humane learnynge. 1587 Edinb. Test. XVII. f. 242^v His haill buikis..quhairof he leiffis..the humane buikis to his secund sonne. 1633 W. Prynne Histrio-mastix i. vi. v. 448 Aristotle, the Oracle of all humane literature, excludes these Stage-playes out of his Republicke; debarring youthes and children from them, as being apt to poyson both their mindes and manners. 1677 J. Hanmer Αρχαιοσκοπια 356 Being..of a sharp and piercing judgment; which he cultured and improved by the study of the Liberal Arts, and other Humane Learning. 1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses I. 269 Edward Grant..the most noted Latinist and Grecian of his time. He was well skill'd in all kind of humane literature. 1701 tr. J. Le Clerc Lives Primitive Fathers 174 To learn Humane Learning; that is to say, to understand the Greek Poets and Orators, and to write well in that Tongue. 1717 Boston News-let. 17 Dec. 2/2 Considering his Superiour Genius,..his great acquisition in humane Learning and Knowledge, his Conversation among Men. 1824 T. L. Beddoes Let. 6 Dec. in Wks. (1935) 593 Lost to all German and all humane learning, o'erhusked with sweet dozing sloth. 1877 J. A. Symonds Reviv. Learning in Renaissance in Italy ii. 71 (note) The word Humanism has a German sound, and is in fact modern. Yet the generic phrase umanità for humanistic culture, and the name umanista for a professor of humane studies, are both pure Italian. 1964 A. Richardson Hist. Sacred & Profane i. 36 The Church in the seventeenth century became a patron of scholarship, upholding the Laudian ideal of a learned clergy and championing humane studies against the attacks of the Puritans. 2002 Renaissance Q. 55 1005 The humane disciplines of grammar, letters, poetry, history, rhetoric, and moral philosophy..became the intellectual heritage of the educated elite of western Europe. Compounds humane killer n. an instrument for the painless slaughter or destruction of animals. ΚΠ 1896 Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury 20 June There is in Nice, France, a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, that has introduced there for slaughter house use a new invention called ‘Greener's humane cattle killer’.] 1900 Times 30 May 14/1 An experiment was made a few months back with an instrument know as the ‘Humane Killer’ which consisted of a rifled barrel..which was discharged by being struck with a mallet by the operator. 1920 Act 10 & 11 George V c. 43 §(8) (h) Any..butcher..having in his possession..any humane killer for the purpose of such business. 1984 B. MacLaverty Cal (new ed.) 8 The humane killer cracked again and Cal saw the killing pen tip over and tumble a beast on to the floor, its legs stiff to the ceiling. 2002 T. Cadden Good Form xiii. 106 The other alternative is to have your horse shot. This is generally done with a humane killer, a captive bolt—not a rifle shot at long range with a telescopic sight. Humane Society n. (also with lower-case initials) (a) (the name of) any of various organizations promoting the saving of human lives, and (in early use) esp. the revival of drowning persons through resuscitation; (b) (chiefly North American) (the name of) any of various organizations devoted to the prevention of cruelty to animals.The organization founded in London in 1774 as the ‘Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned’ was renamed the ‘Humane Society’ in 1776; it has been known as the Royal Humane Society since 1787, although it was not formally granted a royal charter until 1958. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > safety > rescue or deliverance > [noun] > one who rescues or delivers > from drowning > society or organization Humane Society1776 1776 Minutes Soc. Recov. Persons app. drowned 8 May That this Society in future be distinguished by the name of ‘The Humane Society’. 1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 219 The men of the Humane Society..came hurrying, with their apparatus for resuscitation. 1896 V. Hunt in Cosmopolis Sept. 617 I chose the darkest place, farthest from the Humane Society's drags. 1931 H. B. Weiss & G. M. Ziegler Thomas Say i. 23 The signs of the Humane Society were familiar along the waterfront as late as 1840 or 1850. 1970 P. Berton National Dream iv. iii. 165 How worried would be any member of the Humane society, could he see the treatment animals in a Pack Train receive. 1992 Scotsman 16 Apr. 14/8 Mathew Abbott received the Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Parchment & Resuscitation Certificate. 2006 New Yorker 9 Jan. 62/2 A dozen determined, don't-joke-about-it dog-rescuers from the Humane Society. humane letters n. [after French lettres humaines (16th cent. in Middle French as letres humaines ) and its model post-classical Latin litterae humaniores literae humaniores n.] = the humanities at humanity n. 2. ΚΠ 1610 E. Bolton Elements of Armories sig. A3 Generous, and learned Reader (for to such onely doth this part of humane letters [sc. Heraldry] appertaine). 1746 J. Upton Crit. Observ. Shakespeare i. iv. 28 The more liberal sciences and humane letters, are not the natural growth of these Gothic and northern regions. 1793 Beawes's Civil Hist. Spain & Portugal I. 367 Paulus Manucius (the Person so distinguished in the Study and Knowledge of humane Letters) said of himself, that, compared with others, he was something in Literature, but nothing in Comparison with Antonius Augustinus. 1843 E. Bulwer-Lytton Last of Barons II. iv. v. 66 Thou art acquainted, doubtless..with the Humaner Letters? 1891 Internat. Jrnl. Ethics 1 395 Literary prejudices which caused classical models to be regarded as the only humane letters. 1905 Eng. Hist. Rev. 20 341 To most of Dr. Sandys's readers it will be news how long humane letters held their own at Orleans and Poitiers. 1981 J. Cheever Jrnls. (1991) 371 The faculty and student body have enthusiastically chosen me to receive an honorary doctorate in humane letters. 2003 Jrnl. Mil. Hist. 67 895 Oppenheimer..comfortably dwelled in the intertwined American and international worlds of physics and humane letters. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.c1500
随便看	defamations defamative defamator defamatorily defamatory defame defamed defamedly defameless defamer defamers defames defamiliarization defamiliarize defamiliarized defamiliarizes defamiliarizing defaming defamingly defamings defamous defamously defamy defang defanged