Humanity means “the human qualities” and “the human race,” as in His humanity was quite apparent and All humanity will rejoice at the news. Humanism is any of a number of value systems based upon the central importance of human beings, as in Humanism was one of the strongest intellectual threads in the fabric of the Renaissance. The humanities are the branch of knowledge based on language and literature and including history and philosophy, as in Everyone must take courses in the humanities as well as in the sciences. As an adjective humanitarian describes values centered on the perfectibility of the human race; it also describes actions devoted to promoting the welfare of humanity, as in She belongs to several humanitarian organizations; as a noun it refers to a person devoted to promoting human welfare, as in He has been a noted humanitarian all his life.
