Humble
WordNet
adjective
(1) Of low birth or station (`base' is archaic in this sense)
"Baseborn wretches with dirty faces"
"Of humble (or lowly) birth"
(2) Marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful
"A humble apology"
"Essentially humble...and self-effacing, he achieved the highest formal honors and distinctions"- B.K.Malinowski
(3) Used of unskilled work (especially domestic work)
(4) Low or inferior in station or quality
"A humble cottage"
"A lowly parish priest"
"A modest man of the people"
"Small beginnings"
verb
(5) Cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
"He humiliated his colleague by criticising him in front of the boss"
(6) Cause to be unpretentious
"This experience will humble him"
WiktionaryText
Etymology
< < (cf. Greek ) < , . See homage, and confer chameleon, humiliate.
Adjective
- Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage.
- Thy humble nest built on the ground. -Cowley.
- Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; lowly; weak; modest.
- God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Jas. iv. 6.
- She should be humble who would please. -Prior.
- Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy nation. -Washington.
Verb
- To bring low; to reduce the power, independence, or exaltation of; to lower; to abase; to humiliate.
- Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes. -Shak.
- The genius which humbled six marshals of France. -Macaulay.
- To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride or arrogance of; to reduce the self-sufficiency of; to make meek and submissive; -- often used reflexively.
- Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you. 1 Pet. v. 6.
Synonyms
Etymology
From (cf. Greek ) < , .
Related terms
- àmha
- à mon humble avis
- humblement
- humiliation
- humilier
- humilité