LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininesecond declension

humus

humus f (genitive humī)
Classical[ˈhʊ.mʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈuː.mus]
№ 740 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. feminineground, floor
  2. feminineearth, soil
    [Triptolemus] prīmus arābit et seret et culta praemia tollet humō[Triptolemus] will be the first to plow and sow and take away the rewards from cultivated soil. (See Triptolemus, Demophon of Eleusis, and Celeus for the ancient Greek myths about a royal family who are presented as humble country folk in the Fasti.)8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 4.559–560

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

terra ipsa; humī = in terrā.
humus -ī f — in Mille Verba, Rūs et Agrīcultūra

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Tellus · Terra · Solum · Humus

Tellus denotes the earth as a whole, as the centre of the universe, as a goddess, in opp. to other bodies in the universe, or other divinities, like Γαῖα, Γῆ; whereas terra (τέρσω, torreo,) as matter and one of the elements in opp. to the other elements, like γαῖα, γῆ); solum (ὅλον) as a solid element, in opp. especially to water, like πέδον; lastly, humus (χθών, χαμαί), as the lowest part of the visible world, in opp. to the sky, like χθών. Hence the derivative terrenus is in opp. to igneus; solidus is in opp. to fluidus; lastly, humilis, in opp. to sublimis. (i. 173.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativehumushumī
umī
genitivehumī
umī		humōrum
umōrum
dativehumō
umō		humīs
umīs
accusativehumum
umum		humōs
umōs
ablativehumō
humū, umō		humīs
umīs
vocativehume
ume		humī
umī
locativehumī—

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

humi procumbere
to fall on the ground.
humi prosternere aliquem
to throw any one to the ground.

hŭmus, i (archaic form of the
I. abl. sing. humu, Varr. ap. Non. 488, 6 and 48, 26), f. (archaic masc. humum humidum pedibus fodit, Laev. ap. Prisc. p. 719 P.: humidum humum, Gracch. ib.) [from the prim. form ΧΑΜ, whence χα^μαί, χα^μόθεν, χα^μα^λός, Lat. humilis; kindr. with Sanscr. Xám, earth; Gr. χθών], the earth, the ground, the soil.
I. Lit. (class.; cf.: terra, solum, tellus): humus erat immunda, lutulenta vino, coronis languidulis et spinis coöperta piscium, Cic. Fragm. Or. pro Gall. ap. Quint. 8, 3, 66 (ap. Orell. IV. 2, p. 454); cf.: omnia constrata telis, armis, cadaveribus et inter ea humus infecta sanguine, Sall. J. 101 fin.: subacta atque pura, Cic. de Sen. 17, 59: cubitis pinsibant humum, Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 5, § 23 Müll. (Trag. v. 435 Vahl.); cf.: procubuit moriens et humum semel ore momordit. bit the ground and died (cf. the Homer. ὀδὰξ ἑλεῖν γαῖαν), Verg. A. 11, 418: calcibus atram Tundit humum exspirans, id. ib. 10, 731; cf. Ov. A. A. 1, 112: pede candido In morem Salium ter quatient humum, Hor. C. 4, 1, 28: Acestes aequaevum ab humo attollit amicum, Verg. A. 5, 452: sedit humo, Ov. M. 4, 261: ipse feraces Figat humo plantas, Verg. G. 4, 115; cf.: semina spargere humo, Ov. M. 5, 647: surgit humo, id. F. 6, 735; cf.: nec se movit humo, id. M. 4, 264: dejectoque in humum vultu, id. ib. 6, 607: propter humum volitat, id. ib. 8, 258: humi atque ipsius stirpis laetitia, Col. 4, 24, 4; cf.: quis cibus erat caro ferina atque humi pabulum uti pecoribus, Sall. J. 18, 1: ii, quos humus injecta contegeret (shortly afterwards, gleba), Cic. Leg. 2, 22, 57: quae (genera arborum) humi arido atque arenoso gignuntur, Sall. J. 48, 3 Kritz N. cr.—Poet., as a fig. for what is low, mean, common: sermones repentes per humum, Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 251; cf.: ne, dum vitat humum, nubes et inania captet, id. A. P. 230: ad humum maerore gravi deducit et angit, id. ib. 110; v. also under adv.: affigit humo divinae particulam aurae, id. S. 2, 2, 79.—
II. Transf., in gen., like solum, land, country, region: Punica nec Teucris pressa fuisset humus, Ov. H. 7, 140: Aonia, id. F. 1, 490: Illyrica, id. Med. Fac. 74: Pontica, id. P. 3, 5, 56.—
III. Adverbial form humi, like χαμαί, on the ground or to the ground: jacere humi, Cic. Cat. 1, 10, 26: requiescere, Sall. J. 85, 33: strati, Cic. de Or. 3, 6, 22; cf.: serpit humi tutus nimium timidusque procellae, Hor. A. P. 28: quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? fixed on the ground, Cic. Rep. 6, 17: locus circiter duodecim pedes humi depressus, Sall. C. 55, 3: quot humi morientia corpora fundis? Verg. A. 11, 665: spargere humi dentes, Ov. M. 3, 105; cf.: hunc stravit humi, id. ib. 12, 255: tremens procumbit humi bos, Verg. A. 5, 481: volvitur ille excussus humi, id. ib. 11, 640; cf.: projectum humi jugulavit, Tac. H. 2, 64: stratus humi palmes viduas desiderat ulmos, Juv. 8, 78.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *homos, from earlier *xomos, ultimately from *dʰéǵʰōm (“earth”). De Vaan suggests that the o-stem emerged in Latin on the basis of the ambiguous locative form humī, itself from earlier *homei, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰémi. Alternatively, Sihler reconstructs a seperate Proto-Indo-European adjective of the shape *dʰǵʰomós. Cognates include Sanskrit क्ष (kṣa), Ancient Greek χθών (khthṓn), and Old Church Slavonic землꙗ (zemlja). Related to homō (“human being, man”).

Descendants
  • Englishhumus
  • Frenchhumus
  • GermanHumus
  • Italianhumus
  • Italianumus
  • Italianumo
  • Portuguesehúmus
  • Portuguesehumo
  • Romanianhumus
  • Romanianhumă

Quick answers

What does humus mean in Latin?
humus, a noun, means “ground, floor; earth, soil”.
What is the genitive of humus?
The genitive singular is humī. humus is feminine, second declension.
How do you pronounce humus?
In classical Latin, [ˈhʊ.mʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈuː.mus].