All human beings as a group; also the quality of being kind and caring toward others.
From Old French “humanité,” from Latin “humanitas,” meaning “human nature,” “kindness,” or “culture.” It originally joined the ideas of being human and being civilized.
“Humanity” is double‑edged: it means both the human species and our capacity for kindness. The word itself suggests that being truly human involves more than just having a human body—it’s about how we treat each other.
‘Humanity’ has often been linguistically conflated with ‘mankind,’ centering male experience as representative of all humans. Historical narratives of ‘humanity’s’ progress frequently foreground men’s achievements while overlooking women’s and gender-diverse people’s contributions.
Use ‘humanity’ to genuinely mean all humans; avoid pairing it with imagery or examples that default to men as the norm.
["humankind","human beings","people everywhere"]
Women and gender-diverse people have shaped every domain attributed to ‘humanity’—science, art, politics, care, and culture—though their roles are often minimized or anonymized in collective histories.
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