Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term 'humanities' referred to the study of classical literature and language, as opposed to the study of religion or 'divinity.' The study of the humanities was a key part of the secular curriculum in universities at the time. Today, the humanities are more frequently defined as any fields of study outside of natural sciences, social sciences, formal sciences, and applied sciences. They use methods that are primarily critical, speculative, or interpretative and have a significant historical element—as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of science.

प्रामुख्याने चिकित्सक व अटकळीच्या स्वरूपात असलेल्या पद्धतींचा वापर करून मानवी परिस्थितीचा अभ्यास करणाऱ्या विद्याशाखांना मानव्यविद्या असे म्हटले जाते.