Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to humble
Participle: humbled
Gerund: humbling
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | humble |
| you | humble |
| he;she;it | humbles |
| we | humble |
| you | humble |
| they | humble |
Perfect
| I | have humbled |
| you | have humbled |
| he;she;it | has humbled |
| we | have humbled |
| you | have humbled |
| they | have humbled |
Past
| I | humbled |
| you | humbled |
| he;she;it | humbled |
| we | humbled |
| you | humbled |
| they | humbled |
Pluperfect
| I | had humbled |
| you | had humbled |
| he;she;it | had humbled |
| we | had humbled |
| you | had humbled |
| they | had humbled |
Future
| I | will humble |
| you | will humble |
| he;she;it | will humble |
| we | will humble |
| you | will humble |
| they | will humble |
Future Perfect
| I | will have humbled |
| you | will have humbled |
| he;she;it | will have humbled |
| we | will have humbled |
| you | will have humbled |
| they | will have humbled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | humble |
| you | humble |
| he;she;it | humble |
| we | humble |
| you | humble |
| they | humble |
Perfect
| I | have humbled |
| you | have humbled |
| he;she;it | have humbled |
| we | have humbled |
| you | have humbled |
| they | have humbled |
Imperfect
| I | humbled |
| you | humbled |
| he;she;it | humbled |
| we | humbled |
| you | humbled |
| they | humbled |
Pluperfect
| I | had humbled |
| you | had humbled |
| he;she;it | had humbled |
| we | had humbled |
| you | had humbled |
| they | had humbled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would humble |
| you | would humble |
| he;she;it | would humble |
| we | would humble |
| you | would humble |
| they | would humble |
Perfect
| I | would have humbled |
| you | would have humbled |
| he;she;it | would have humbled |
| we | would have humbled |
| you | would have humbled |
| they | would have humbled |
Imperative
| you | humble |
| we | Let's humble |
| you | humble |
Verbs conjugated like 'humble'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'humble'
bumble,
chumble,
fumble,
hamble,
jumble,
mumble,
rumble,
tumble,
amble,
bimble,
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. c.1250, from O.Fr.
humble, earlier
humele, from L.
humilis "lowly, humble," lit. "on the ground," from
humus "earth." Senses of "not self-asserting" and "of low birth or rank" were both in M.E. The verb is c.1380 in the intrans. sense of "to render oneself humble;" 1484 in the trans. sense of "to lower (someone) in dignity."
"Don't be so humble; you're not that great." [Golda Meir]
To
eat humble pie (1830) is from
umble pie (1648), pie made from
umbles "edible inner parts of an animal" (especially deer), considered a low-class food. The similar sense of similar-sounding words (the "h" of
humble was not pronounced then) converged in the pun.
Umbles, meanwhile, is M.E.
numbles "offal" (with loss of
n- through assimilation into preceding article), from O.Fr.
nombles "loin, fillet," from L.
lumulus, dim. of
lumbus "loin."
2. From Middle English humblen (“to humble”), from the adjective above.
Sample Sentences
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Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues have humbled to all strokes. [c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:]
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Humble yourselues therefore vnder the mighty hand of God, that hee may exalt you in due time, [1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Peter 5:6:]
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But, after the death of the master, the servant proved himself capable of supplying with eminent ability the master's place, and was renowned throughout Europe as one of the great Triumvirate which humbled the pride of Lewis the Fourteenth. [1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XI, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, pages 68–69:]
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And you say you've been humbled in love / Cut down in your love / Forced to kneel in the mud next to me [1979 September 27, Leonard Cohen, “Humbled in Love”, in Recent Songs:]
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The final, quiet moments of the book return to Sten; his experience of his sick son humbles him, just as his aging body humbles him, and Boyle seems to suggest this makes him a better man. [2015 April 8, Dana Spiotta, “T. C. Boyle’s ‘The Harder They Come’”, in The New York Times:]