nonhuman

adjective

non·​hu·​man ˌnän-ˈhyü-mən 

-ˈyü-

: not human: such as

a

: being other than a human being

a nonhuman primate/animal

b

: not belonging to, appropriate to, or produced by human beings

nonhuman noises

nonhuman cells

nonhuman noun

Discarding the doctrine of human dignity can mean lowering the moral status of humans or raising the moral status of nonhumans, and Mr. Rachels's emphasis is ultimately on the latter.

—Robert Wright

Examples of nonhuman in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

After years of work improving the vaccine’s design and testing its safety in several nonhuman species, the first European trial was held on a military base in Belgium. —Discover Magazine, 3 Oct. 2024

The researchers also found 94 nonhuman tracks belonging to birds and cow- and horse-like animals. —Katie Hunt, CNN, 28 Nov. 2024

So researchers use alternative indicators to gauge how a nonhuman animal is thinking or feeling – such as tracking eye movement. —Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Nov. 2024

By contrast, in the debate-free tests, the nonhuman judges answered correctly only 54% of the time, a result just barely better than flipping a coin. —Stephen Ornes, Quanta Magazine, 8 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined above