"H" Word Origins

hula

Origin

Borrowed from Hawaiian hula, the name of the dance.

hulk

Latin

From Old English hulc, referring to a clumsy or heavy ship, itself possibly borrowed from Greek by way of Latin.

hull

Old English

From Old English hulu, meaning the covering of a seed — related to words in other Germanic languages meaning "cover" or "wrap."

hullabaloo

Origin

Possibly a playful, rhyming combination of old words used as greetings or hunting calls, similar to "hello" and "halloo."

hum

Middle English

From Middle English hummen, an imitative word describing the buzzing or droning sound itself.

human

Latin

From Old French humain, from Latin hūmānus ("of man"), related to homo ("man, human being").

human rights

Origin

From human right + -s (suffix forming plural nouns and pluralia tantum).

humane

Origin

From Middle English humain, humayne, from Old French humain, umain, from Latin hūmānus, from Latin homō (“man”). Cognate with Old English guma (“man”), whence the groom in English bridegroom.

humaneness

Origin

From humane + -ness. Piecewise doublet of humanness.

humanism

Latin

Formed from Latin humanus meaning 'human', by way of humanist, a term for a scholar of classical letters.

humanist

Middle French

From Middle French humaniste, related to the study of "humane letters" during the Renaissance.

humanitarian

Origin

From humanity plus the suffix -arian, meaning "one devoted to."

humanity

Latin

From Old French humanité, from Latin hūmānitās, built from hūmānus ("human").

humanization

Origin

From human + -ization or humanize + -ation.

humankind

Origin

From human plus kind, an older word meaning "race" or "species."

humanly

Origin

From human plus the adverb-forming ending -ly.

humanness

Origin

From human + -ness. Piecewise doublet of humaneness.

humanoid

Origin

From human plus the suffix -oid, meaning "resembling."

humble

Latin

From Old French humble, from Latin humilis ("low, lowly"), from humus ("ground, earth") — the same root behind humiliate.

humbleness

Origin

From Middle English humblenesse; equivalent to humble + -ness.

humbly

Origin

From humble plus the adverb-forming ending -ly.

Humboldt

German

Borrowed from German Humboldt.

humbug

Origin · 1700

Origin unknown — the word appeared in English by the mid-1700s, and its exact source has never been traced with certainty.

humdrum

Origin · 1500

Likely a rhyming repetition based on hum, dating to the 1500s.

humerus

Latin

Borrowed from Latin humerus, meaning "shoulder" or "upper arm."

humid

Latin

From Old French humide, from Latin humidus ("moist").

humidity

Latin

From Old French humidité, from Latin hūmiditās, built on humid.

humiliate

Latin

From Latin humiliāre ("to abase, make humble"), from humilis ("low, humble") — the same root as humble.

humiliation

Latin

From Middle French humiliation, tracing back to Latin humiliare, "to humiliate" — ultimately from humilis, "low" (the same root as humble).

humility

Latin

From Old French umilité, from Latin humilitas ("lowness"), from humilis ("low, humble") — the same root as humble.

Hummel

Germanic

From an old Germanic root meaning "to mutilate or cut short," related to the English word "hamble" and to Low German and Bavarian words for hornless animals.

hummer

Origin

From hum + -er — originally just "something that hums."

humming

Origin

From hum + -ing.

hummingbird

Origin

Named for the humming noise made by its rapidly beating wings.

hummock

Origin

Unknown, but probably a diminutive of hump, equivalent to hump + -ock (diminutive suffix). Compare hillock.

hummus

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic hummus, the word for chickpea.

humongous

Origin

A playful blend likely combining "huge" with the ending of "monstrous," first appearing in informal American English.

humor

Latin

From Latin humor meaning 'moisture' or 'fluid', through the medieval theory that four bodily fluids governed a person's temperament.

humorous

Middle English

From Middle English humorous, built on humor + -ous.

humour

Latin

From Latin humor ("liquid, moisture"). Medieval medicine held that four bodily fluids ("humours") controlled mood and health, which is how the word came to mean "state of mind" and later "funniness."

hump

Germanic

Likely borrowed from Dutch or Low German words meaning "lump" or "heap," related to a wider Germanic root for something curved.

humpable

Origin

From hump + -able.

humpback

Origin

From hump + back.

humpbacked

Origin

From hump + backed.

humph

Origin · 1500

A natural grunt-like exclamation first recorded in the 1500s.

Humphrey

Old French

From Old French Humfrey, ultimately from Germanic elements meaning roughly "peace" and "support," carried to England by the Normans.

Humphreys

Origin

From Humphrey plus the patronymic suffix -s.

Humphries

Origin

From Humphrey plus the patronymic suffix -s.