2768: Humus, Homo and Humans Jul 19, 2024

Ancient societies understood that man was made out of the soil of the earth, seen with slight differences in various accounts of creation, and in a modern, scientific age, the word for the species, ‘human,’ has roots in this where ‘man’ does not. The word ‘humus’, taken in the 18th century from Latin, means ‘soil’, but it is from the exact same root as the Latin ‘homo’ meaning ‘human’, and where the English ‘human’ comes from (note that ‘man’ and ‘human’ aren’t related). The word "homo" is etymologically connected to "humus" through the shared Indo-European root *dhghem-, which means "earth" or "ground."

As languages evolved, the meanings of these words became more specialized. "Humus" retained its focus on soil and organic matter, while "homo" became the term for humans, emphasizing human distinctiveness and consciousness. This linguistic divergence reflects the growing complexity of human society and thought.