Adjacent Words

Humility definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HUMIL'ITY, n. [L. humilitas.]
1. In ethics, freedom from pride and arrogance; humbleness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth. In theology, humility consists in lowliness of mind; a deep sense of one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin, and submission to the divine will.
Before honor is humility. Proverbs 15.
Serving the Lord with all humility of mind. Acts 20.
2. Act of submission.
With these humilities they satisfied the young king.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a disposition to be humble; a lack of false pride; "not everyone regards humility as a virtue" [syn: humility, humbleness] [ant: conceit, conceitedness, vanity]
2: a humble feeling; "he was filled with humility at the sight of the Pope" [syn: humility, humbleness] [ant: pride, pridefulness]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 14th century the quality or state of being humble

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 humbleness, meekness. 2 a humble condition. Etymology: ME f. OF humilité f. L humilitas -tatis (as HUMBLE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Upland Up"land, a. 1. Of or pertaining to uplands; being on upland; high in situation; as, upland inhabitants; upland pasturage. Sometimes, with secure delight The upland hamlets will invite. --Milton. 2. Pertaining to the country, as distinguished from the neighborhood of towns; rustic; rude; unpolished. [Obs.] `` The race of upland giants.'' --Chapman. Upland moccasin. (Zo["o]l.) See Moccasin. Upland sandpiper, or Upland plover (Zo["o]l.), a large American sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) much valued as a game bird. Unlike most sandpipers, it frequents fields and uplands. Called also Bartramian sandpiper, Bartram's tattler, field plover, grass plover, highland plover, hillbird, humility, prairie plover, prairie pigeon, prairie snipe, papabote, quaily, and uplander. Upland sumach (Bot.), a North American shrub of the genus Rhus (Rhus glabra), used in tanning and dyeing.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Humility Hu*mil"i*ty, n.; pl. Humilities. [OE. humilite, OF. humilit['e], humelit['e], F. humilit['e], fr. L. humiliatis. See Humble.] 1. The state or quality of being humble; freedom from pride and arrogance; lowliness of mind; a modest estimate of one's own worth; a sense of one's own unworthiness through imperfection and sinfulness; self-abasement; humbleness. Serving the Lord with all humility of mind. --Acts xx. 19. 2. An act of submission or courtesy. With these humilities they satisfied the young king. --Sir J. Davies. Syn: Lowliness; humbleness; meekness; modesty; diffidence. Usage: Humility, Modesty, Diffidence. Diffidence is a distrust of our powers, combined with a fear lest our failure should be censured, since a dread of failure unconnected with a dread of censure is not usually called diffidence. It may be carried too far, and is not always, like modesty and humility, a virtue. Modesty, without supposing self-distrust, implies an unwillingness to put ourselves forward, and an absence of all over-confidence in our own powers. Humility consists in rating our claims low, in being willing to waive our rights, and take a lower place than might be our due. It does not require of us to underrate ourselves.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Someone who has humility is not proud and does not believe they are better than other people. ...a deep sense of humility... ? pride

Easton's Bible Dictionary

a prominent Christian grace (Rom. 12:3; 15:17, 18; 1 Cor. 3:5-7; 2 Cor. 3:5; Phil. 4:11-13). It is a state of mind well pleasing to God (1 Pet. 3:4); it preserves the soul in tranquillity (Ps. 69:32, 33), and makes us patient under trials (Job 1:22).

Christ has set us an example of humility (Phil. 2:6-8). We should be led thereto by a remembrance of our sins (Lam. 3:39), and by the thought that it is the way to honour (Prov. 16:18), and that the greatest promises are made to the humble (Ps. 147:6; Isa. 57:15; 66:2; 1 Pet. 5:5). It is a "great paradox in Christianity that it makes humility the avenue to glory."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hu-mil'-i-ti (~[`anawah]; tapeinophrosune):

(1) The noun occurs in the Old Testament only in Pr 15:33; 18:12; 22:4, but the adjective "humble" appears frequently as the translation of `ani, `anaw, shaphal, meaning also "poor," "afflicted"; the verb, as the translation of `anah, "to afflict," "to humble," and of kana`, "to be or become humbled"; tsana`, "to be lowly," occurs in Mic 6:8. For "humble" (Ps 9:12; 10:12) the Revised Version (British and American) has "poor"; Ps 10:17; 34:2; 69:32, "meek"; for "humbled" (Ps 35:13), "afflicted" (Isa 2:11; 10:33), "brought low"; for "He humbleth himself" (Isa 2:9) "is brought low," margin "humbleth himself"; Ps 10:10, "boweth down"; tapeinophrosune is translated "humility" (Col 2:18,23; 1Pe 5:5); in several other places it is translated "lowliness" and "lowliness of mind"; tapeinos is translated "humble" (Jas 4:6; 1Pe 5:5; elsewhere "lowly," etc.; 1Pe 3:8, tapeinophron), the Revised Version (British and American) "humble-minded"; tapeinoo, "to humble," occurs frequently (Mt 18:4; 23:12, etc.); tapeinosis is "humiliation" (Ac 8:33); for "vile body" (Php 3:21) the Revised Version (British and American) gives "body of our humiliation."

(2) (a) In the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, humility is an essential characteristic of true piety, or of the man who is right with God. God humbles men in order to bring them to Himself (De 8:2,3, etc.), and it is when men humble themselves before Him that they are accepted (1Ki 21:29; 2Ch 7:14, etc.); to "walk humbly with thy God" completes the Divine requirements (Mic 6:8). In Ps 18:35 (2Sa 22:36) the quality is ascribed to God Himself, "Thy gentleness (or condescension) hath made me great." Of "him that hath his seat on high" it is said, (Hebrew) "humbleth (shaphel) himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth" (Ps 113:6). It is in the humble heart that "the high and lofty One, .... whose name is Holy" dwells (Isa 57:15; compare Isa 66:2).

(b) The word tapeinophrosune is not found in classical Greek (Lightfoot); in the New Testament (with the exception of 1Pe 5:5) it is Pauline. In Greek pre-Christian writers tapeinos is, with a few exceptions in Plato and Platonic writers, used in a bad or inferior sense--as denoting something evil or unworthy. The prominence it gained in Christian thought indicates the new conception of man in relation to God, to himself, and to his fellows, which is due to Christianity. It by no means implies slavishness or servility; nor is it inconsistent with a right estimate of oneself, one's gifts and calling of God, or with proper self-assertion when called for. But the habitual frame of mind of a child of God is that of one who feels not only that he owes all his natural gifts, etc., to God, but that he has been the object of undeserved redeeming love, and who regards himself as being not his own, but God's in Christ. He cannot exalt himself, for he knows that he has nothing of himself. The humble mind is thus at the root of all other graces and virtues. Self-exaltation spoils everything. There can be no real love without humility. "Love," said Paul, "vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up" (1Co 13:4). As Augustine said, humility is first, second and third in Christianity.

(c) Jesus not only strongly impressed His disciples with the need of humility, but was in Himself its supreme example. He described Himself as "meek and lowly (tapeinos) in heart" (Mt 11:29). The first of the Beatitudes was to "the poor in spirit" (Mt 5:3), and it was "the meek" who should "inherit the earth. Humility is the way to true greatness: he who should "humble himself as this little child" should be "the greatest in the kingdom of heaven"; "Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted" (Mt 18:4; 23:12; Lu 14:11; 18:14). To the humble mind truth is revealed (Mt 11:25; Lu 10:21). Jesus set a touching example of humility in His washing His disciples' feet (Joh 13:1-17).

(d) Paul, therefore, makes an earnest appeal to Christians (Php 2:1-11) that they should cherish and manifest the Spirit of their Lord's humility--"in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself," and adduces the supreme example of the self-emptying (kenosis) of Christ: "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," etc. The rendering of heauton ekenosen (Php 2:7 the King James Version) by "he humbled himself" has given rise to the designation of the Incarnation as "the Humiliation of Christ."

(e) There is a false humility which Paul warns against, a self-sought, "voluntary humility" (Col 2:18,23). This still exists in many forms, and has to be guarded against. It is not genuine humility when we humble ourselves with the feeling that we are greater than others, but only when we do not think of self at all. It is not alone the sense of sin that should create the humble spirit: Jesus had no sin. It belongs not merely to the creature, but even to a son in relation to God. There may be much self-satisfaction where sinfulness is confessed. We may be proud of our humility. It is necessary also always to beware of "the pride that apes humility."

W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Humbleness, meekness, submissiveness, lowliness, self-abasement, lowliness of mind, freedom from pride or arrogance, freedom from self-righteousness.

Moby Thesaurus

Quakerism, acquiescence, altruism, amenability, back seat, bashfulness, commitment, compliance, consecration, dedication, devotion, diffidence, disinterest, disinterestedness, dovelikeness, gentleness, humbleness, inferiority, juniority, lamblikeness, lowliness, meekness, mildness, minority, modesty, nonresistance, nonviolent resistance, obedience, passive resistance, passiveness, passivity, peaceableness, quietism, quietness, resignation, sacrifice, second fiddle, second string, secondariness, self-abasement, self-abnegation, self-denial, self-devotion, self-effacement, self-forgetfulness, self-immolation, self-neglect, self-neglectfulness, self-renouncement, self-sacrifice, self-subjection, selflessness, servility, shyness, subjection, submission, submissiveness, subordinacy, subordination, subservience, tameness, third string, timidity, timorousness, unacquisitiveness, unambitiousness, unassumingness, unboastfulness, uncomplainingness, unobtrusiveness, unpossessiveness, unpresumptuousness, unpretentiousness, unselfishness