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humble

adj
/ˈhʌmbəl/US/ˈʌmbəl/UK/ˈhʊmbəl/

Etymology

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμηλός (khamēlós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōd.

  1. derived from humilis
  2. derived from humble
  3. inherited from humble

Definitions

  1. Not pretentious or magnificent

    Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.

    • He lives in a humble one-bedroom cottage.
    • 17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches The wise example of the heavenly lark. Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark, Above the clouds let thy proud music sound, Thy humble nest build on the ground.
    • Roominess and unroominess in a human dwelling, even of the humblest kind, are important matters in their bearing upon man's character.

  2. Having a low opinion of oneself

    Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

    • But he giueth more grace, wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proude, but giueth grace vnto the humble.
    • She ſhould be humble, who would pleaſe; And ſhe muſt ſuffer, who can love.
    • Rosol's 65 winners to Nadal's 41 was one of the crucial statistics in the 3hr 18min match that ended in a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 triumph labelled a "miracle" by Rosol, who was humble enough to offer commiserations to Nadal.

  3. An arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.

    • You're on a corner in my district, it ain't gonna be about no humble, it ain't gonna be about no loitering charge, nothing like that. There gonna be some biblical shit happening to you on the way to that motherfucking jail wagon.
    • Years ago, guys on Baltimore's streets would have, by definition, called an arrest for loitering a "humble."
  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of.

      • Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes.
      • Humble yourselues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God, that hee may exalt you in due time,

    2. To make humble or lowly

      To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.

      • And you say you've been humbled in love / Cut down in your love / Forced to kneel in the mud next to me
      • The final, quiet moments of the book return to Sten; his experience of his sick son humbles him, just as his aging body humbles him, and Boyle seems to suggest this makes him a better man.

    3. To hum.

      • humbling and bumbling

    4. Alternative form of hummel.

      • humble cattle

    5. A surname.

    6. A place name

      A place name:

The neighborhood

Derived

eat humble pie, enhumble, humblebrag, humblehead, humble-hearted, humble-heartedness, humble pie, humble plant, humblesome, humblesse, humblify, humblish, in my humble opinion, unhumble, unhumbleness, humbleness, humblehood, humbler, humbly

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at humble. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01humble02proud03deserves04deserve05win06despite07insult08demean

A definitional loop anchored at humble. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at humble

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA