2 entries under this word

Humanize

Hū'man-ize, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. HUMANIZED; p. pr. & vb. n. HUMANIZING.] [Fr. humaniser.] To render human or humane; to soften; to subdue dispositions to cruelty, and render susceptible of kind feelings.

Was it the business of magic to humanize our natures with compassion? Addison.

Hū'man-īze, v. i.

verbintransitive

To become or be made more humane; t. become civilized; to be ameliorated.

By the original law of nations, war and extirpation were the punishment of injury. Humanizing by degrees, it admitted slavery instead of death; a further step was the exchange of prisoners instead of slavery. B. Franklin.