The Collaborative International Dictionary
Humble \Hum"ble\, a. [Compar. Humbler; superl. Humblest.] [F., fr. L. humilis on the ground, low, fr. humus the earth, ground. See Homage, and cf. Chameleon, Humiliate.]
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Near the ground; not high or lofty; not pretentious or magnificent; unpretending; unassuming; as, a humble cottage.
THy humble nest built on the ground.
--Cowley. -
Thinking lowly of one's self; claiming little for one's self; not proud, arrogant, or assuming; thinking one's self ill-deserving or unworthy, when judged by the demands of God; lowly; waek; modest.
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
--Jas. iv. 6.She should be humble who would please.
--Prior.Without a humble imitation of the divine Author of our . . . religion we can never hope to be a happy nation.
--Washington.Humble plant (Bot.), a species of sensitive plant, of the genus Mimosa ( Mimosa sensitiva).
To eat humble pie, to endure mortification; to submit or apologize abjectly; to yield passively to insult or humilitation; -- a phrase derived from a pie made of the entrails or humbles of a deer, which was formerly served to servants and retainers at a hunting feast. See Humbles.
--Halliwell.
--Thackeray.
Mimosa \Mi*mo"sa\ (?; 277), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? imitator. Cf. Mime.] (Bot.) A genus of leguminous plants, containing many species, and including the sensitive plants ( Mimosa sensitiva, and Mimosa pudica).
Note: The term mimosa is also applied in commerce to several
kinds bark imported from Australia, and used in
tanning; -- called also wattle bark.
--Tomlinson.