HUMINT

or hu·mint

[ hyoo-mintor, often, yoo- ]

noun

1. the gathering of political or military intelligence through secret agents.

humint

/ ˈhjuːmɪnt /

noun

1. human intelligence: military intelligence gained from human sources with knowledge of the target area

Word History and Origins

Origin of HUMINT¹

1975–80; hum(an) int(elligence)

Example Sentences

The Justice Department has said in court filings that among the 100-plus classified documents taken in August, some were marked “HCS,” a category of highly classified government information that refers to “HUMINT Control Systems,” which are systems used to protect intelligence gathered from secret human sources.

From Washington Post

Among the 100-plus classified documents taken in August, some were marked “HCS,” a category of highly classified government information that refers to “HUMINT Control Systems,” which are systems used to protect intelligence gathered from secret human sources, according to a court filing.

From Washington Post

The documents seized on Aug. 8, we would learn, included some with "sensitive compartmented information" designations that marked them as having come from HUMINT, or human intelligence, and SI, or signals intelligence, and potentially containing the most closely held kinds of government secrets — the identities of some of its agents and sources of intelligence information.

From Salon

The “HCS” acronym stands for “HUMINT Control Systems” and refers to the government systems used to protect intelligence gathered from secret human sources, the affidavit says.

From Washington Post

Once you get into HUMINT, SI, FISA, and OCORN, you get into really, really classified.

From Slate