humble vs small what difference

what is difference between humble and small

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhʌmbəl/
• (obsolete, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʌmbəl/
• Rhymes: -ʌmbəl
• Hyphenation: hum‧ble

Etymology 1

From Middle English humble, from Old French humble, umble, humle, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμαλός (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”). See homage, and compare chameleon, humiliate. Displaced native Old English ēaþmōd.

The verb is from Middle English humblen (“to humble”).

Adjective

humble (comparative humbler or more humble, superlative humblest or most humble)

1. Not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming.
   • 17th century, Abraham Cowley, The Shortness of Life and Uncertainty of Riches

     The wise example of the heavenly lark.
     Thy fellow poet, Cowley, mark,
     Above the clouds let thy proud music sound,
     Thy humble nest build on the ground.

2. Having a low opinion of oneself; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; modest.

   Synonyms: unassuming, modest
3. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Near the ground.
   • 1952, E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web, Harper Brothers:

     “Humble?” said Charlotte. “‘Humble’ has two meanings. It means ‘not proud’ and it means ‘near the ground.’ That’s Wilbur all over. He’s not proud and he’s near the ground.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:humble

Antonyms

• arrogant
• snobby
• presumptuous
• smug

Derived terms

Related terms

• humbleness
• humiliate
• humiliation
• humility

Translations

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of
2. (transitive, often reflexive) To make humble or lowly; to make less proud or arrogant; to make meek and submissive.

Synonyms

• abase, lower, depress, humiliate, mortify, disgrace, degrade

Derived terms

• humblehood
• humbleness
• humbler (agent noun)
• humbly

Translations

Noun

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Baltimore, slang) An arrest based on weak evidence intended to demean or punish the subject.

Etymology 2

From Middle English *humblen, *humbelen (suggested by humblynge (“a humming, a faint rumbling”)), frequentative of Middle English hummen (“to hum”), equivalent to hum +‎ -le.

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To hum.

Derived terms

• humblebee

Etymology 3

Noun

humble (plural humbles)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, also attributive) Alternative form of hummel.

Verb

humble (third-person singular simple present humbles, present participle humbling, simple past and past participle humbled)

1. (transitive) Alternative form of hummel.

Further reading

• humble in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• humble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin humilis (“low, slight, hence mean, humble”) (compare Greek χαμαλός (khamalós, “on the ground, low, trifling”)), from humus (“the earth, ground”), humi (“on the ground”).

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /œ̃bl/
• Rhymes: -œ̃bl
• Homophone: humbles

Adjective

humble (plural humbles)

1. humble

Related terms

• àmha
• à mon humble avis
• humblement
• humiliation
• humilier
• humilité

Further reading

• “humble” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Old French

Adjective

humble m (oblique and nominative feminine singular humble)

1. Alternative form of umble

Declension

English

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /smɔːl/
• • Rhymes: -ɔːl
• (US)
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /smɔl/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /smɑl/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /smɑl/
• (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /smoːl/

Etymology

From Middle English smal, from Old English smæl (“small, narrow, slender”), from Proto-Germanic *smalaz (“small”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mal-, *(s)mel- (“small, mean, malicious”). Cognate with Scots smal; sma (“small”); West Frisian smel (“narrow”); Dutch smal (“narrow”); German schmal (“narrow, small”); Danish, Norwegian, Swedish smal (“narrow; thin; slender”); Latin malus (“bad”); Russian ма́лый (mályj, “small”).

Adjective

small (comparative smaller, superlative smallest)

1. Not large or big; insignificant; few in number.

2. (figuratively) Young, as a child.

3. (writing, incomparable) Minuscule or lowercase, referring to written or printed letters.
4. Evincing little worth or ability; not large-minded; paltry; mean.
   • 1851, Thomas Carlyle, The Life of John Sterling

     A true delineation of the smallest man is capable of interesting the greatest man.

5. Not prolonged in duration; not extended in time; short.

6. (archaic) Slender, gracefully slim.

Synonyms

• (not large or big): little, microscopic, minuscule, minute, tiny; see also Thesaurus:tiny
• (young, as a child): little, wee (Scottish), young
• (of written letters): lowercase, minuscule

Antonyms

• See also Thesaurus:large
• (not large or big): capital, big, generous (said of an amount of something given), large
• (young, as a child): adult, grown-up, old
• (of written letters): big, capital, majuscule, uppercase

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

small (comparative smaller, superlative smallest)

1. In a small fashion

   Don’t write very small!

2. In or into small pieces.
   • 2009, Ingrid Hoffman, CBS Early Morning for September 28, 2009 (transcription)

     That’s going to go in there. We’ve got some chives small chopped as well.

3. (obsolete) To a small extent.
4. (obsolete) In a low tone; softly.

Derived terms

• writ small

Noun

small (plural smalls)

1. (rare) Any part of something that is smaller or slimmer than the rest, now usually with anatomical reference to the back.

Derived terms

• small of the back

Verb

small (third-person singular simple present smalls, present participle smalling, simple past and past participle smalled)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To make little or less.
2. (intransitive) To become small; to dwindle.
   • 1917, Thomas Hardy, The Clock of the Years

     And smalled till she was nought at all.

Anagrams

• malls

Icelandic

Verb

small (strong)

1. first-person singular past indicative of smella
2. third-person singular past indicative of smella

Low German

Etymology

From Middle Low German smal, from Old Saxon smal, from Proto-Germanic *smalaz. Cognate with German schmal, Dutch smal, English small.

Adjective

small (comparative smaller, superlative smallst)

1. narrow
2. small, slender

Declension

Middle English

Adjective

small

1. Alternative form of smal

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

small

1. (non-standard since 2005) past tense of smelle

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

small

1. past tense of smella

Swedish

Verb

small

1. past tense of smälla.

Anagrams

• malls

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