• Question: Why are humans called humans and not hipos or something else??

    Asked by themadman2477 to Andrew, Ash, Gem, Paige, SJ on 27 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: SarahJayne Boulton

      SarahJayne Boulton answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      The word ‘Human’ has its roots in the latin part-word ‘hum-‘ which means ‘ground’ or used to denote something that ‘comes form the ground’.

      It refers back to the story in the bible that Adam the first man was made from clay from the ground by god.

      So we’re called humans after that there story!

      Our latin name – Homo Sapiens comes from the latin for Man (homo) and the word for Wise or Clever (sapiens) as we think ourselves to be the most mentally advanced of our evolutionary ancestors.

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Good question!!! I think SJ has it covered!!!

Comments