humble
To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride ofTo defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Translations
4 languagesBy meaning 2
Meaning
3 senses(ambitransitive)To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of.
demütigen, erniedrigen
(often, reflexive, transitive)To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.
erniedrigen, demütig machen
(intransitive, obsolete)To hum.
humbling and bumbling
- cause to be unpretentious
- cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
Origin
From Middle English humblen (“to humble”), from the adjective above. From Middle EnglishFrom Middle English humblen (“to humble”), from the adjective above.
From Middle English *humblen, *humbelen (suggested by humblynge (“a humming, a faint rumbling”)), frequentative of Middle English hummen (“to hum”), equivalent to hum + -le.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
humbles, humbling, humbled, humbledTenses
humble · humbled · will humble · have humbledSynonyms
44 synonymsWord family
5 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.