ranger1:

"knowing yourself and coming to terms with who you are, lumps, warts and all" is a good definition of humility. I don't know about the root of the word, but the words "humble" and "humiliate" seem leagues apart.
My Websters dictionary defines humble as "not proud, arrogant or assuming; modest." In the King James version of the bible, the term they use to describe someone who is arrogant and assuming as being "puffed up." Man, I love that term. I knows folks who are so puffed up that if you tied a string to their ankle you could float them in the Macy's Day parade. Not that we all aren't puffed up at times. Me included. The thing about humility is that it is as you described... an honest acceptance of who we are. Funny, but most people think of that as recognizing our "warts and all." And that's an important part of it. But, humility recognizes our strengths, too. Humility is a state where we can look honestly at ourselves and find that inner peace (which is essential to inner beauty), recognizing that our strengths are gifts to be nurtured (and not to get puffed up about) as well as our limitations. Fortunately, there are others whose gifts are in our areas of weakness and limitation. They are placed in our path to help us, as we may be placed in theirs to help them in areas where they are weak.

One of the humblest men I ever was blessed to meet was Mississippi John Hurt. He was without pretense. He certainly knew how wonderful his music was, and you could see what joy it gave him to entertain others. But, he seemed to have such a solid sense of who he was that he could be proud and modest at the same time.

Humility is not self-degradation, or downplaying our gifts. It's an internal honesty we all strive for. Some attain it, and they are a gift to everyone else.

Jerry