Ubuntu

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ʊˈbʊntuː/

Definitions

1. A worldview that promotes shared humanity and collective responsibility among people
2. A cultural concept highlighting the bonds between individuals and the importance of community connections in daily life
3. A philosophical concept emphasizing communal relationships and mutual support as fundamental to human existence

Etymology: The Nguni languages of southern Africa give English a word whose ancestry reaches back to a single Proto-Bantu form, *bʊ̀ntʊ̀, which is also the root of the word for "person" across a large family of African languages. In Zulu it appears as "ubuntu," meaning "humanity," and in Xhosa as "ubuntu," meaning "humaneness" or "solidarity." English borrowed it directly from these two languages, so the word arrived as a loanword rather than passing through Latin or French. The sense of the word is worth noticing. Its root is about being a person, and the idea is that a person becomes fully human through other people. The word carries that sense of shared humanity into ideas of community and kindness, which is why it now appears in English in discussions of social values, leadership and reconciliation far beyond southern Africa.

Synonyms: humanity, compassion, togetherness