humility

From Middle English humilite, from Old French (h)umilité, from Latin humilitas (“lowness, meanness, baseness, in Late Latin humility”), from humilis (“low, lowly, humble, earth”), equivalent to humble +‎ -ity.; see humble. Doublet of omerta. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōdnes.

• IPA^(key): /hjuːˈmɪlɪti/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlɪti

humility (countable and uncountable, plural humilities)

1. The characteristic of being humble; humbleness in character and behavior.
   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 193:

     She had established a character for humility, discretion, noiselessness and religion which Mrs. Piper greatly regretted losing.

• Commonly used to mean “modesty, lack of pride” (with respect to one’s achievements), and in formal religious contexts to refer to a transcendent egolessness.

• egolessness, humilitude, meekness, modesty, self-effacement

• pride

• “humility”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.