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PlainSpell

human

hu·man/ˈhjuː.mən/adjective, noun, verb

human is spelled H-U-M-A-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables (hu·man). It appears 224 times per million words in written English, the 447th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “human vs humane” about 170 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, human means “Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in human?

Letters5: H-U-M-A-N
Syllables2: hu·man
In writing224 times per million words; the 447th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is human?

Human appears 224 times per million words in written English, the 447th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce human?

  • /ˈhjuː.mən/
  • [ˈçju̟mən]
  • [ˈçju̟mn̩]

Human has 2 syllables, split hu·man in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-human.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with human

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

human vs humane170 G

Also written: humane.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of human

  • more human comparative
  • most human superlative
  • humans plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • humaning participle, present
  • humanning participle, present, rare
  • humaned participle, past
  • humanned participle, past, rare

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does human mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives.

  2. 2

    Having the nature or attributes of a human being.

    To err is human; to forgive, divine.

  3. 3

    Compassionate.

noun

  1. 1

    A highly intelligent ape with fine and short body hair; the most abundant species of primate, with members found on every continent (Homo sapiens).

    Humans share common ancestors with other apes.

  2. 2

    A human as contrasted from superficially similar but typically more powerful humanoid creatures; a member of the human race.

  3. 3

    A term of address for any human, often implying the listener's species is their only noteworthy trait.

  4. 4

    Any hominid of the genus Homo.

verb

  1. 1

    rareTo behave as or become, or to cause to behave as or become, a human.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Human in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchhumain (of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens), homme, être humain (human being)
Germanmenschlich (of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens), Mensch, menschliches Wesen (human being)
Portuguesehumano (of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens), homem (human being)
Spanishhumano (of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens), hombre, ser humano (human being)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does human come from?

From Late Middle English humaigne, humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain (“of or belonging to man”, adjective), from Latin hūmānus m (“of man, human”, adjective); see there for further details. Spelling human has been predominant since the early 18th century. Compare, and possibly related to man.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after human