Mensch.

[herman]

Word of the Day for Sunday, May 6, 2012

mensch \\mench\\, noun:

A decent, upright, mature, and responsible person.

It\'s easy to be a mensch, his dad says. You honor your father and mother. You stay married, you set your kids a good example, you don\'t lie or cheat or steal. And every once in a while, Cookie, you gotta pick up the check, his father says, then winks.
-- Jane VanDenburgh, Physics of Sunset
A mensch is not usually interested in fame. You are liable to meet a mensch in almost any situation.
-- Ira Wood, The Kitchen Man
Mensch entered English from Yiddish in the 1950s. In Yiddish, it meant \"man, human being\" and had the positive associations that carried into English. It is related to the German word mensch.