Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Humanism \Hu"man*ism\, n.
   1. Human nature or disposition; humanity.

            [She] looked almost like a being who had rejected
            with indifference the attitude of sex for the
            loftier quality of abstract humanism. --T. Hardy.

   2. The study of the humanities; polite learning.

Source : WordNet®

humanism
     n 1: the doctrine that people's duty is to promote human welfare
          [syn: {humanitarianism}]
     2: the doctrine emphasizing a person's capacity for
        self-realization through reason; rejects religion and the
        supernatural [syn: {secular humanism}]
     3: the cultural movement of the Renaissance; based on classical
        studies