humanity

Definition

Humankind; human beings as a group.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English humanyte, humanite, humanitye. By surface analysis, human or humane + -ity. Partly displaced mankind, from Old English mancynn (literally “human race”).

Example Sentences

• "Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all."
• "At last the concourse is relatively clear of humanity and the task of clearing up can begin."
• "It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; perhaps to moralise on the oneness or fragility of the planet, or to see humanity for the small and circumscribed thing that it is; […]."

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