Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Humanity
1.
The quality of being human; the peculiar nature of man, by which he is distinguished from other beings.
2.
Mankind collectively; the human race.
But hearing oftentimes
The still, and music
The still, and music
humanity
. Wordsworth.
It is a debt we owe to
humanity
. S. S. Smith.
3.
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.” Locke.
4.
Mental cultivation; liberal education; instruction in classical and polite literature.
Polished with
humanity
and the study of witty science. Holland.
5.
pl.
(With definite article) The branches of polite or elegant learning; as language, rhetoric, poetry, and the ancient classics; belles-letters.
☞ The cultivation of the languages, literature, history, and archæology of Greece and Rome, were very commonly called literæ humaniores, or, in English, the humanities, . . . by way of opposition to the literæ divinæ, or divinity.
G. P. Marsh.
Webster 1828 Edition
Humanity
HUMAN'ITY
,Noun.
1.
The peculiar nature of man, by which he is distinguished from other beings. Thus Christ, by his incarnation, was investedwith humanity.
2.
Mankind collectively; the human race. If he is able to untie those knots,he is able to teach all humanity.
It is a debt we owe to humanity.
3.
The kind feelings, dispositions and sympathies of man,by which he is distinguished from the lower orders of animals; kindness; benevolence; especially, a disposition to relieve persons in distress, and to treat with tenderness those who are helpless and defenseless; opposed to cruelty.4.
A disposition to treat the lower orders of animals with tenderness, or at least to give them no unnecessary pain.5.
The exercise of kindness; acts of tenderness.6.
Philology; grammatical studies.Humanities, in the plural, signifies grammar, rhetoric and poetry; for teaching which there are professors in the universities of Scotland.