From Latin 'humilis' (low), from 'humus' (earth) — literally 'earthiness,' kin to 'human,' 'humble,' and 'exhume.'
Definition
A modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness.
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Latin14th centurywell-attested
From OldFrench 'umilité,' from Latin 'humilitātem' (lowness, smallness, nearness to the ground, submissiveness), from 'humilis' (low, near the ground, lowly, humble), from 'humus' (earth, ground, soil), from PIE *dʰǵʰem- (earth). Humility is etymologically 'earthiness' — thecondition of staying close to the ground rather than rising above it. The samePIE root *dʰǵʰem- produced
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'Humility,' 'human,' 'humble,' 'humus,' and 'exhume' allcome from PIE *dʰǵʰem- (earth). Humility is earthiness. A human is an 'earthling.' Humblemeans 'close to the ground.' Humus is earth itself. To exhume is to dig out of the earth. And to humiliate is to bring someone
. To be humble is to remain at earth-level, not to rise above it: it is the virtue of the creature that remembers it came from dust. The antonym 'exalt' (to lift up) and idioms like 'down to earth' and 'grounded' encode the same vertical metaphor from below — rooted in the literal ground of human existence. Key roots: *dʰǵʰem- (Proto-Indo-European: "earth, ground").