Ubuntu (; meaning in some Bantu languages, such as Zulu and Xhosa) describes a set of closely related Bantu African-origin value systems that emphasize the interconnectedness of individuals with their surrounding societal and physical worlds. "Ubuntu" is sometimes translated as "I am because we are". In Xhosa, the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".
Different names in Africa
Although the most popular term referring to the philosophy today is "Ubuntu", the philosophy stretches back to the beginning of proto-Bantu language and has many other names in other African languages.
Angola (gimuntu);
Botswana (muthu, batho);
Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Gambia Liberia, Sierra Leonne and Mali (maaya);
Burundi (ubuntu);
Cameroon (bato);
Congo (bantu);
Democratic Republic of Congo (bomoto, kimuntu or bantu);
Egypt (maat);
Ethiopia (medemer, edir, kiree, mahiber, debo);
Ghana (biako ye);
Kenya (utu, munto, omundu or mondo);
Malawi (umunthu);
Mozambique (vumuntu);
Namibia (omundu);
Nigeria (mutunchi, iwa, agwa, omwayaonyamo);
Rwanda (ubuntu);
South Africa (ubuntu, ubundu or botho);
South Sudan (nhiar-baai);
Tanzania (utu, obuntu or bumuntu);
Uganda (obuntu, obuntubulamu);
Zambia (umunthu); and
Zimbabwe (unhu, hunhu, ubuntu, ibuntu).
{|class=wikitable
|+"Humanity" in Bantu languages
!Countries
! Language !! Word
|-
|Angola, DRC, ROC
|Kongo||kimuntu, gimuntu
|-
|Botswana
|Setswana||botho
|-
|Burundi, Rwanda
|Kinyarwanda, Kirundi||ubuntu
|-
|Cameroon
|Sawabantu||bato
|-
|DRC
|Kongo, Luba-Kasai
|bomoto, bantu
|-
|Kenya
|Kikuyu||umundu
|-
|Kenya
|Ekegusii
|obonto
|-
|Kenya
|Luhya||omundu
|-
|Kenya
|Meru||munto
|-
|Kenya, Tanzania
|Swahili||utu
|-
|Mozambique
|Makua
|vumuntu
|-
|Namibia
|Otjiherero ||omundu
|-
|Namibia
|Oshiwambo||omuntu
|-
|Namibia
|Rukwangali|| muntu
|-
|South Africa, Lesotho
|Sesotho ||botho
|-
|South Africa
|Tshivenda||vhuthu
|-
|South Africa, Zimbabwe
|Ndebele, Xhosa, Zulu||ubuntu
|-
|Uganda
|Luganda||obuuntu
|-
|Zambia, Malawi
|Chewa and Chitumbuka
|umunthu
|-
|Zambia
|Tonga
|ibuntu
|-
|Zimbabwe
|Shona
|unhu, hunhu
|}
Definitions
thumb|300px|[[Nelson Mandela in 2006 was asked to define "ubuntu" in a video used to launch Ubuntu Linux.]]
There are many different (and not always compatible) definitions of Ubuntu. Even with the various definitions, Ubuntu encompasses the interdependence of humans on one another and the acknowledgment of one's responsibility to their fellow humans and the world around them. It is a philosophy that supports collectivism over individualism.
The African Journal of Social Work (AJSW) defines Ubuntu as: