hum 
hum 1 (hum), n. [< hum 1 , .] 1. Any inarticu- 
late, low, murmuring, or buzzing sound, as that 
made by bees in flight, by a spinning top, etc. ; 
a faint continuous sound having no definite 
pitch; a buzz. 
In drawling hunt* the feeble Insects grieve. 
Addi&on, tr. of Virgil's Georgics, iv. 
Sounds that come 
(However near) like a faint distant hum 
Out of the grass, from which mysterious birth 
We guess the busy secrets of the earth. 
Keats, Vox et praterea nihil. 
With the hum of swarming bees 
Into dreamful slumber lull'd. 
Tennyson, Eleanore. 
The hum outliving the hushed bell. 
Lowell, Darkened Mind. 
Specifically (a) A low confused noise, as of a crowd, or 
of distant voices or sounds of any kind. 
From camp to camp, through the foul womb of night, 
The hum of either army stilly sounds. 
Shak., Hen. V., iv. (cho.). 
Towered cities please us then, 
And the busy hum of men. 
Milton, L' Allegro, 1. 118. 
No sound of life Is heard, no village hum. 
Bryant, Earth. 
(6) A buzz or murmur of applause or approbation, (c) A 
sound uttered with closed mouth by a speaker in a pause 
from embarrassment, affectation, or the like : as, hums 
and haws. Also (and now more commonly) hem. 
I take my chair, 
And, after two or three majestic hums, 
. . . Peruse my writings. 
Massinger, Parliament of Love, ii. 1. 
My solemn hums and ha's the servants qnake at. 
Fletcher (and MassingerT), Lovers' Progress, i. 1. 
2f. [Prob. from its causing a buzzing or hum- 
ming in the head.] A drink formerly common, 
probably made of strong ale or of ale and spirit. 
Its exact composition is not known. 
And calls for hum. 
You takers of strong waters and tobacco, 
Mark this. B. Jonson, Devil is an Ass, v. 6. 
Lord, what should I ail ! 
What a cold I have over my stomach ! would I had some 
hum. Fletcher, Wildgoose Chase, ii. 3. 
Venous hum, in pathol., the humming sound heard in 
the large veins at the base of the neck, especially in anemic 
states. 
hum 1 (hum), interj. [Another form of hem, h'm, 
inter/., q. v. see hum 1 , n., esp. in sense 1 (c). 
Cf. LG. hum, humme, an interjection of forbid- 
ding or directing ; F. hum, hum, a coughing ac- 
cent or voice.] An iuterjectional, hesitating 
sound, uttered with or during a pause; hem; 
h'm. 
Bar. Hum, hum 
Jam. That preface, 
If left out in a lawyer, spoils the cause, 
Though ne'er so good and honest. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, iii. 3. 
hum 2 (hum), v. t. ; pret. and pp. hummed, ppr. 
humming. [Orig. dial. ; appar. a particular use 
of hum 1 , v., I., 2, II., 2; cf. Sp. zumbar, joke, 
jest, make oneself merry, Pg. zombar, joke, jest, 
a particular use of Sp. zumbar, Pg. zumbir, hum, 
buzz: see hum 1 . Cf. humbug.'] To trick or de- 
lude ; impose on ; cajole. 
I don't mean to cajole you hither with the expectation 
of amusement or entertainment ; you and I know better 
than to hum or be hummed in that manner. 
Mme. D'Arblay, Diary, II. 163. 
hum 2 (hum), n. [< hum 2 , v."] An imposition or 
hoax ; a humbug. 
"L'is true his friend gave out that he was hanged ; 
But to be sure, 'twas all a hum. 
Qarrick, quoted in Jon Bee's Samuel Foote, p. Ixxxvl. 
It's "No Go" It's "Gammon" it's "all a Hum." 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, II. 186. 
I daresay all this is hum, and that all will come back. 
Lamb, To Manning. 
human (hu'man), a. and n. [Formerly humane, 
humaine, < MB. "human (in adv. humanly), hu- 
main, < OF. humain, F. humain = Pr. human, 
uman = Sp. Pg. humano = It. umano, < L. hu- 
manus, of or belonging to a man, human, hu- 
mane, < homo (homin-), man : see Homo. Cf. hu- 
mane, a doublet of human."] I. a. 1. Of, pertain- 
ing to, or characteristic of man or of mankind ; 
having the qualities or attributes of man : as, 
human life or nature; a human being; human 
shape. 
Neuer humain ey saw to it egal ! 
Bam. of Partenay (E. E. T. S.X 1. 951. 
It Is not impossible to me ... to set her before your 
eyes to-morrow, human as she is. 
Shak., As you Like it, v. 2. 
But who his human heart has laid 
To Nature's bosom nearer? Whittier, Bums. 
Human nature ... is a composite thing, a constitution 
of many parts differing in kind and quality. 
Lecky, Europ. Morals, I. 202. 
2913 
2. Pertaining to the sphere, nature, or faculties 
of man; relative or proper to mankind; mun- 
dane; secular; not divine: as, human know- 
ledge, wisdom, or science ; human affairs. 
My hand was in all human probability the first that had 
knocked at his door in a quarter of a century. 
Scribner's Mag., IV. 662. 
Human Sign, (a) In logic, a sign instituted by a con- 
vention among men ; a conventional sign, as a stroke of 
a bell for a sign of the hour. (6) In astrol., a sign of the 
zodiac corresponding to a constellation having for its 
figure a human being. The human signs are Gemini, 
Virgo, Aquarius, and the first half of Sagittarius. =Syn. 1. 
Human, etc. See humane. 
II. n. A human being; a member of the 
family of mankind. [Now colloq. or humor- 
ous.] 
Mars. Mars (said he), thou plague of men, smear'd with 
the dust and bloud 
Of humanes, and their ruin'd wals. Chapman, Iliad, v. 
Humans for men, which Mr. Bartlett includes in his 
"Dictionary of Americanisms," is Chapman's habitual 
phrase in his translation of Homer. I find it also in the 
old play of "The Hog hath lost his PearL" 
Lowell, Biglow Papers, Int. 
Parson B ... is just as fierce upon the dogs when 
they annoy him as he is upon the human* who cross his 
path. Harper's Mag., XVI. 137. 
To see such a number of terrified creatures taking sanc- 
tuary in every nook along the shore is enough to infect a 
silly human with alarm. 
B. L. Stevenson, Inland Voyage, p. 121. 
humanatet (hu'man-at), a. [< ML. humanatus, 
pp. of humanari, become human, < L. humanus, 
Ini inn n : see human.'] Made human; endued 
with humanity. 
Of your saying it followeth that the bread is humanate 
or Incarnate. Cranmer, Ans. to Gardiner, p. 369. 
humane (hu-man'), a. [Formerly not separated 
from human, which was also spelled humane, 
humaine (with the accent on the first syllable) ; 
recently differentiated, with form and accent 
of the L. humanus, human, also humane : see 
human, and cf. -an, -ane."] If. Of or pertaining 
to man; human. See human, a., 1. 2f. Pro- 
fane; secular. See human, a., 2. 
His ignorance acquites him of all science, humane or 
divine. Sir T. Overbury, Characters, An Hypocrite. 
Aristotle, . . . Euripides, Sophocles, and all humane 
authors. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err. 
3. Having the feelings and inclinations proper 
to man; having tenderness, compassion, and 
a disposition to treat other human beings and 
the lower animals with kindness; kind; be- 
nevolent. 
It is the humane way : the other course 
Will prove too bloody. Shak., Cor., iii. 1. 
From racks, indeed, and from all penalties directed 
against the persons, the property, and the liberty of here- 
tics, the human? spirit of Mr. Gladstone shrinks with hor- 
ror. Macaulay, Gladstone on Church and State. 
4. Tending to humanize or refine : applied to 
the elegant or polite branches of literature, es- 
pecially philology, rhetoric, poetry, and the 
study of the ancient classics. See humanity, 5. 
He was well skilled in all kinds of humane literature. 
Wood, Athena; Oxon., I. 310. 
It [theology] is too universal in its relations to be able 
to stand alone ; it will disclose its best treasures only to 
those who come to it cultivated by the study of the hu- 
maner letters. Contemporary Rev., LI. 218. 
=8yn. 3. Humane, Merciful; tender,tender-hearted, kind- 
hearted, compassionate, sympathetic. Humane differs 
from the ordinary use of merciful in that it expresses ac- 
tive endeavors to find and relieve suffering, and espe- 
cially to prevent it, while merciful expresses the disposi- 
tion to spare one the suffering which might be inflicted. 
The good Samaritan was humane ; Shylock should have 
been merciful; the Koyal Humane Society; a merciful 
Judge. 
Human, Humane. Human is that which belongs to 
man as man ; humane means not inhuman, compassion- 
ate. A. S. Hill, Rhetoric, p. 61. 
And we most humbly beseech thee, O merciful Father, to 
hear us. Book of Common Prayer, Communion Service, 
[Invocation. 
humanely (hu-man'li), adv. [< humane + -ly%. 
Ct.humanly."} In a humane manner ; with kind- 
ness, tenderness, or compassion. 
humaneness (hu-man'nes), n. The quality of 
being humane ; tenderness. 
human-heartedness (hu'man-hiir // ted-nes), n. 
Humaneness; humanity. 
His [Scott's] own wonderful humanheartedness so 
broad, so clear, so genial, so humorous. 
J. C. Shairp, Aspects of Poetry, p. 108. 
humanhood (hu'inan-hud), . [< human + 
-hood."] The state or condition of being hu- 
man; humanity. [Rare.] 
If a man attempt to benefit humanity by being faithful 
to his humanhood, he Is obliged ... to run counter to 
his age. Maccall, Elem. of Individualism, p. 90. 
humanics (hu-man'iks), n. [< human + -ics: 
see -ic*.] The doctrine or science of human 
humanitarian 
nature, or of matters relating to humanity. 
Collins. 
humaniform (hu-man'i-form), a. [< L. Jiiiiiin- 
nus, human, T forma, form.] Having the form 
or characteristics of man ; human. [Rare.] 
All religion being more or less anthropomorphic, or hu- 
maniform, the structure of the spirit world must corre- 
spond with human conceptions and experiences. 
, I //-/-. Antiquarian, XI. 11. 
humanify (hu-mau'i-fi), v. t.; pret. and pp. 
humanified, ppr. humanifying. [< L. humanus, 
human, -f facere, make.] To render human; 
incarnate. [Rare.] 
I will not dispute whether he could not have received 
us again to favour by some nearer and easier way than for 
His own Sou to be humanified, and being man to be cru- 
cified. Rev. T. Adams, Works, III. 211. 
humanisatiou, humanise, etc. See humaniza- 
tion, etc. 
humanism (hu'man-izm), n. [< human + -.] 
1. Human nature" or character; humanity. 
A general disposition of mind belonging to a man as 
such is termed humanism. Meyer. 
According as he [man] raises his intellectual and moral 
nature to the levels of a higher and higher humanism. 
Amer. Anthropologist, L 12. 
2. A system or mode of thought in which hu- 
man interests predominate, or any purely hu- 
man element is made prominent. 
The Hegelian idealism first bred the more sensualistic 
system of humanism, and then humanism bred socialism. 
Roe, Contemporary Socialism, p. 114. 
Here we have the stern Puritanism of old Birmingham 
passing into modern nonconformity, . . . and this milder 
form of the old spirit mellowing at last into nineteenth- 
century humanism. Nineteenth Century, XX. 248. 
I neither admit the moral influence of theism in the 
past, nor look forward to the moral influence of human- 
ism in the future. W. K. Clifford, Lectures, II. 249. 
3. The subjects of study called the humanities; 
hence, polite learning in general ; literary cul- 
ture ; especially, in the revival of learning in 
the middle ages, the intelligent and apprecia- 
tive study of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew letters, 
which was introduced by Petrarch in Italy, and 
spread thence throughout Europe. 
humanist (hu'man-ist), n. and a. [= F. huma- 
niste = Sp. Pg. humanista = It. umanista; as hu- 
man + -ist."] I. n. 1. One accomplished in lit- 
erary and classical culture ; especially, in the 
fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, 
one of the scholars who, following the impulse 
of Petrarch, pursued and disseminated the 
study and a truer understanding of classical, 
and particularly of Greek, literature. The active 
enthusiasm of the humanists was the chief factor in ac- 
complishing the Renaissance. 
The author of Utopia was known for tolerant and liberal : 
he was a humanist and a reformer. 
11. W. Dixon, Hist. Church of Eng., i. 
Among the men of letters were many of the most emi- 
nent humanists, such as Leonardo Bruni Aretino, scholar 
and statesman, born in 1369. 
C. E. Norton, Church-building in Middle Ages, p. 262. 
He [Hermann Lotze] is now one of the noblest living hu- 
manists, as contrasted with the specialist on the one hand, 
and with the eclectic ... on the other. 
<?. S. Hall, German Culture, p. 94. 
2. A student of human nature, or of matters of 
human interest ; one versed in human affairs 
and relations. 
Equally pleased with a watch, a coach, ... or a fact in 
hydrostatics, Pepys was pleased yet more by the beauty, 
the worth, the mirth, or the mere scenic attitude in life 
of his fellow-creatures. He shows himself throughout a 
sterling humanist. R. L. Stevenson, Samuel Pepys. 
II. a. Humanistic. 
Italy, that holy land of Humanist enthusiasm. 
Encyc. Brit., XII. 412. 
humanistic (hu-ma-nis'tik), a. [< humanist + 
-ic."] Of or pertaining to humanity or the hu- 
manities; characteristic of humanists or of 
humanism. 
No mystic dreams of ascetic piety had come to trouble 
the tranquillity of its humanistic devotion. J. Caird. 
Science . . . substitutes a world of force and law for 
a world of humanistic divinities. 
Pop. Sci. Mo., XXX. 148. 
The old Plutonic gods do not assert themselves ; they 
are buried and turned to dust, and the more modern hu- 
manistic divinities bear sway. 
J. Burroughs, The Century, XXVII. 113. 
humanistically (hu - ma - nis'ti - kal-i), adv. In 
a humane manner; by means of the humani- 
ties. 
Apart from current controversies stood the teachings 
of the school of Chartres, humanistically nourished on the 
study of the ancients. A. Seth, Encyc. Brit., XXI. 423. 
humanitarian (hu-man-i-ta'ri-an), a. and n. [< 
humanity + -arian."] I. a. 1. In theol., affirm- 
ing the humanity or human nature of Christ, 
