Etymology

ubuntu

U1B3U1N1T1U1

Today it means: A Nguni Bantu ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other. Full definition →

Xhosa úbúnt ← Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀ntʊ̀ ← Zulu ubúnt
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The story

  1. Proto-Bantu*bʊ̀ntʊ̀
  2. Zuluubúnt
  3. Proto-Bantu*bʊ̀ntʊ̀
  4. Xhosaúbúnt
  5. English todayubuntu

Loanword from Zulu ubuntu (“humanity”) and Xhosa ubuntu (“humaneness, solidarity”), from Proto-Bantu *bʊ̀ntʊ̀.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.