human

/ˈhjuː.mən/

//ˈhjuː.mən// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"human" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“human” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #444. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#444
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives.

Corpus desk

Index EN-human · human · English

human · rank #444 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #444
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH happy

Nearest frequency peer: happy (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “human”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “human” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

human vs hun
60% similar
human vs hymn
60% similar
human vs hump
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for human
PropertyValue
Headwordhuman
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈhjuː.mən/
Letters5
Frequency rank#444
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “human”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).humanlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “happy” (#443), “members” (#445), “due” (#442). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “human” is #444. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around human (IPA /ˈhjuː.mən/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #444 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for human, with forms such as "hhuman", "hmuan", and "huamn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "hun", "hymn", "hump", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Latin hūmānus Old French umain Middle French humainbor. Middle English humayne English human From Late Middle English humaigne, humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain (“of or belonging to man”, adjective), f… The correct English form is human, spelled H-U-M-A-N.

Definition

  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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how human appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Some powers diuine, or els infernall, mixt / Their angry ſeedes at his conception: / For he was neuer ſprong of humaine race, / Since with the ſpirit of his fearefull pride, / He dares so doubtleſly reſolue of rule.
  2. [N]o attempt is made to call in God to their reſcue, as if he vvere an idle unconcern'd ſpectator of humane affairs, or ſo inconſiderable an ally, as not to be vvorth the care of engaging him on their ſide.

Etymology

Etymology tree Latin hūmānus Old French umain Middle French humainbor. Middle English humayne English human 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.

Synonyms

mannishmennish

Antonyms

inhumannonhumanunhuman

This word in other languages

humano(Español)humain(Français)menschlich(Deutsch)humano(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hhuman
  • hmuan
  • huamn
  • humann
  • humman
  • humna
  • uhman

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of human - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

hhuman1hmuan2huamn2humann1humman1humna2uhman2
Edit distance from "human"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "human"?
"human" is spelled H-U-M-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhjuː.mən/.
What does "human" mean?
As an adjective, "human" means: Of or belonging to the species Homo sapiens or its closest relatives.
What words are commonly confused with "human"?
"human" is commonly confused with "hun", "hymn", "hump". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "human"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "human" is /ˈhjuː.mən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "human"?
Etymology tree Latin hūmānus Old French umain Middle French humainbor. Middle English humayne English human From Late Middle English humaigne, humayne, humain, from Middle French humain, from Old French humain, umain (“of or belonging to man”, adj... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "human", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

happy#443cause#441looks#436woman#452

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

comes7 variantsclose7 variantswon't7 variantsneeds7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list