Bayanihan

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A traditional Filipino practice where community members help each other voluntarily to achieve a common goal, often in moving a house or completing tasks
2. The spirit of collective effort and mutual support among people in a community to assist one another willingly for shared objectives
3. An act of helping others within a community by working together harmoniously and offering support without expecting payment

Etymology: Bayanihan is a Tagalog word, and it grows from "bayani," a word for a hero or brave man. The Tagalog suffixes "-an" and "-han" were attached to that root to make a noun for the spirit of collective effort. The word traces back through Proto-Philippine and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian ancestors, so its root is very old within the Austronesian language family. The word is tied to a traditional practice: when a family moved to a new site, neighbors would lift the whole house, often on bamboo poles, and carry it there together. The custom made a community's cooperation visible, and the word came to name that cooperative spirit. English borrowed the term directly from Tagalog, so it still carries its Filipino origin. It is used in English to describe volunteer or neighborly help given without expectation of payment.

Synonyms: communal unity, cooperation, collaboration, community spirit, mutual aid

Antonyms: individualism, selfishness, isolation, disunity, separation