1. human race, mankind; human nature; kindness, compassion, quality of being humane. humanity\hu*man"i*ty\ , n.; pl. humanities (#). [l. humanitas: cf. f. humanité. see:
human.].
2. the quality of being human; the peculiar nature of man, by which he is distinguished from other beings.
3. mankind collectively; the human race. but hearing oftentimes the still, and music humanity. it is a debt we owe to humanity. s. smith.
4. the quality of being humane; the kind feelings, dispositions, and sympathies of man; especially, a disposition to relieve persons or animals in distress, and to treat all creatures with kindness and tenderness. "the common offices of humanity and friendship.".
5. mental cultivation; liberal education; instruction in classical and polite literature. polished with humanity and the study of witty science.
6. pl. (with definite article) the branches of polite or elegant learning; as language, rhetoric, poetry, and the ancient classics; belles-letters.note: the cultivation of the languages, literature, history, and arch?ology of greece and rome, were very commonly called liter? humaniores, or, in english, the humanities, by way of opposition to the liter? divin?, or divinity. p. marsh.humanity n.
7. all of the inhabitants of the earth; "all the world loves a lover" [syn: world, human race, humankind, human beings , humans, mankind, man].
8. the quality of being humane.
9. the quality of being human [syn: humanness].
10. The quality of being human; the peculiar nature of man, by which he is distinguished from other beings.
11. Mankind collectively; the human race.
12. The quality of being humane; the kind feelings, dispositions, and sympathies of man; especially, a disposition to relieve persons or animals in distress, and to treat all creatures with kindness and tenderness.
13. Mental cultivation; liberal education; instruction in classical and polite literature.
14. The branches of polite or elegant learning; as language, rhetoric, poetry, and the ancient classics; belles-letters.
15. 1. All the people in the world can be referred to as humanity. They face charges of committing crimes against humanity.
16. A person's humanity is their state of being a human being, rather than an animal or an object. a man who's almost lost his humanity in his bitter hatred of his rivals.
17. Humanity is the quality of being kind, thoughtful, and sympathetic towards others. Her speech showed great maturity and humanity.
18. The humanities are the subjects such as history, philosophy, and literature which are concerned with human ideas and behaviour. students majoring in the humanities.