HUMANIZE

humanize, humanise

(verb) make more humane; “The mayor tried to humanize life in the big city”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Verb

humanize (third-person singular simple present humanizes, present participle humanizing, simple past and past participle humanized)

(transitive) To make human; to give or cause to have the fundamental properties of a human.

(transitive) To make sympathetic or relatable.

(intransitive) To become humane or civilized.

(transitive, medicine) To convert into something human or belonging to humans.

Antonyms

• dehumanize

Etymology 2

Verb

humanize (third-person singular simple present humanizes, present participle humanizing, simple past and past participle humanized)

To make humane.

Source: Wiktionary


Hu"man*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Humanized; p. pr. & vb. n. Humanizing.] Etym: [Cf. F. humaniser.]

1. To render human or humane; to soften; to make gentle by overcoming cruel dispositions and rude habits; to refine or civilize. Was it the business of magic to humanize our natures with compassion Addison.

2. To give a human character or expression to. "Humanized divinities." Caird.

3. (Med.)

Definition: To convert into something human or belonging to man; as, to humanize vaccine lymph.

Hu"man*ize, v. i.

Definition: To become or be made more humane; to become civilized; to be ameliorated. By the original law of nations, war and extirpation were the punishment of injury. Humanizing by degrees, it admitted slavery instead of death; a further step was the exchange of prisoners instead of slavery. Franklin.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

20 June 2025

MODEST

(adjective) marked by simplicity; having a humble opinion of yourself; “a modest apartment”; “too modest to wear his medals”


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Coffee Trivia

Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.

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