humanize
verb
hu·man·ize
ˈhyü-mə-ˌnīz 
ˈyü-
ˈyü-
variants
also British humanise
humanized; humanizing; humanizes
1
a
: to represent (something) as human : to attribute human qualities to (something)
Much as we try, we can't stop humanizing our horses.—
Jeffrey Kluger
Jeffrey Kluger
b
: to address or portray (someone) in a way that emphasizes that person's humanity or individuality
My goal, long before my father ever became homeless, was to humanize those who lived on the streets.—Diana Kim
Diana Kim
c(1)
: to include or increase human interaction in (something, such as a process or place)
[Stan] Lowe said he's proud of the increased use of alternative-dispute resolution for the type of complaint that can be informally resolved between an officer and a member of the public. … "It humanizes the experience from both perspectives. It really does repair a relationship, but you're doing it one relationship at a time."—Louise Dickson
Louise Dickson
(2)
: to adapt (something) to human nature or use
In this period of rapid change, the city began putting money back into the neighborhood. Over time, there was a conscious effort to invest in humanizing the landscape, including the reinstallation of the now-famous seven steel arches and street trees.—Kaylee Harter and Shanti Lerner
Kaylee Harter and Shanti LernerThe fact is, cats play different predatory roles in different natural and humanized landscapes.—William S. Lynn
William S. Lynn2
3
a
: to cause (a nonhuman organism or one of its parts) to include components (such as cells, tissues, or genes) of human origin or to produce human substances or components (such as insulin)
It's OK to mess with a creature's "simple" parts—the plumbing in its gut, let's say—but we're risking moral crisis when we start to humanize its neural tissue.—Daniel Engber
Daniel EngberBut other forms of humanized mice, such as mice engineered to have a human immune system, are routine laboratory animals that seem to occasion little angst.—Nicholas Wade
Nicholas WadeThese "humanized" cells were then removed and cloned with tumor cells to make a cell line that produced pure human monoclonal antibodies, the researchers said.—Warren E. Leary
Warren E. Leary
b
: to modify (a nonhuman antibody) by genetic engineering to contain mainly human protein sequences
Monoclonals are made by cultivating antibody-producing cells in the immune system of mice, extracting them from the animals' spleen, and then going through an elaborate process to "humanize" the antibodies to avoid immune reactions in human patients.—Gary Stix
Gary StixWe're using mice to make humanized antibodies that produce cancer drugs.—William Saletan
William Saletan
humanizer
noun
Examples of humanize in a Sentence
The new publicity has helped to humanize the corporation's image.
They promised to humanize conditions at the company.
Recent Examples on the Web
One of the fun parts of playing Kate Wyler, for Russell, is humanizing these brilliant, larger than life statesmen and women.
—Trish Deitch, Variety, 2 Nov. 2024
Ultimately, the documentary humanizes someone often viewed as an avatar of unattainable perfection.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2024
For CMOs, this reinforces the idea that humor, when aligned with cultural awareness, can humanize a brand and increase its relatability.
—Lilian Raji, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
How can writing from an non-anthropomorphic viewpoint actually help humanize and contextualize stories, especially regarding climate change?
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for humanize 
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Trish Deitch, Variety, 2 Nov. 2024
Ultimately, the documentary humanizes someone often viewed as an avatar of unattainable perfection.
—Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2024
For CMOs, this reinforces the idea that humor, when aligned with cultural awareness, can humanize a brand and increase its relatability.
—Lilian Raji, Forbes, 28 Oct. 2024
How can writing from an non-anthropomorphic viewpoint actually help humanize and contextualize stories, especially regarding climate change?
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 23 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for humanize
Dictionary Entries Near humanize
Cite this Entry
“Humanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humanize. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
humanize
transitive verb
hu·man·ize
variants
also British humanise
humanized also British humanised; humanizing also British humanising
1
: to cause (a nonhuman organism or one of its parts) to include a component (as cells, tissues, or genes) of human origin or to produce human substances or components (as insulin)
Previous attempts at "humanizing" mouse livers have taken weeks or months for the human liver cells to latch onto and expand in the mouse liver, the NIH [National Institutes of Health] reports.—Howard Lovy, FierceBiotech
Howard Lovy, FierceBiotech"Humanized" mice with human blood-producing stem cells …—Tina Hesman Saey, Science News
Tina Hesman Saey, Science News2
: to modify (a nonhuman antibody) by genetic engineering to contain mainly human protein sequences
… it is important to humanize these antibodies for human therapeutic purposes without impacting their binding affinity towards antigen targets.—Vinh Dang et al., Clinical and Developmental Immunology
Vinh Dang et al., Clinical and Developmental ImmunologyDr. Joe Conner, a scientist with Viragen who conducted the experiments, explained that "humanizing an antibody requires removing most of the non-human regions of the protein by genetic engineering and replacing them with equivalent human components."—Anthony J. Brown, Reuters Health Medical News
Anthony J. Brown, Reuters Health Medical NewsTrastuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody whose antigen-binding domain Fab recognizes a tyrosine kinase receptor … that is overexpressed in some breast cancers, and its anticancer activity is thought to involve disruption of cell proliferation signaling through this receptor.—Science
Science
humanization
noun
also British humanisation
The progressive humanization of antibodies is another success story that has enabled these versatile and exquisitely selective proteins to progress into largescale therapeutics.
—Michiel E. Ultee, Biopharm International
Michiel E. Ultee, Biopharm International
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