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ubuntu

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A philosophical doctrine or approach to life that emphasizes social unity and generosity of spirit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun South Africa A South African ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Zulu : ubu-, abstract n. pref. + -ntu, person, human.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Loanword from the Zulu and Xhosa languages.

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Examples

  • I downloaded the 64 bit version of ubuntu 10.04 desktop ISO onto my HD in c: \ubuntu.

    Ubuntu Forums demon6 2010

  • So now I'll be able to have ubuntu labeled "business" cards, an @ubuntu. com email address and all the other fun things that membership grants.

    Planet Ubuntu 2009

  • In modern Africa, the word ubuntu is used to describe the way in which generosity of spirit connects us to the energy and affirmation of a larger community.

    The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working Tony Schwartz 2010

  • In modern Africa, the word ubuntu is used to describe the way in which generosity of spirit connects us to the energy and affirmation of a larger community.

    Be Excellent at Anything Tony Schwartz 2010

  • In modern Africa, the word ubuntu is used to describe the way in which generosity of spirit connects us to the energy and affirmation of a larger community.

    Be Excellent at Anything Tony Schwartz 2010

  • The word ubuntu has been so often used by politicians that it is fast losing its credit, but as long as the impulse remains, South Africans will have a foundation stone for building a new, more equitable South Africa.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • A city without the spirituality of "ubuntu" -- a Xhosa word meaning the spirit of a person developed only through inter-action with others -- was not fully a city, Mr Keegan said.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 1993

  • The spokeswoman, Sibongile Khumalo, responded in the affirmative, using the word ubuntu, Zulu for the oneness of humanity.

    NYT > Home Page By JOHN ELIGON 2011

  • Its name comes from the Zulu word "ubuntu", translated as humanity, describing the ubuntu philosophy: "I am who I am because of those around me," a positive aspect of community.

    Boycott Novell - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.

    Birute Regine: Be a Vote for Ubuntu Birute Regine 2010

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same context (10)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. 64bit
  2. Linux
  3. UAW
  4. debian
  5. kubuntu
  6. nvidia
  7. samba
  8. sp1
  9. standalone
  10. suse

Comments

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  • abraxaszugzwang commented on the word ubuntu

    An African word meaning "humanity to others" or "I am what I am because of who we all are." - according to ubuntu.com

    February 7, 2007

  • bobodod commented on the word ubuntu

    From the section "Individuals in Society" on this Wordcraft page: http://wordcraft.infopop.cc/Archives/2003-5-May.htm

    ubuntu – in rough terms, humanity, not as an individual as defined by one's interrelationships. The South African Governmental White Paper on Welfare officially recognizes ubuntu as "The principle of caring for each other's well-being...and a spirit of mutual support …"

    further down, the site quotes:

    Christianity in North America and Europe tends to buy into the Enlightenment ethos of "enlightened self-interest" and "rational individualism." The individual as free agent is the starting point for thinking about society, and this of course reduces community to little more than a collection of individuals who come together out of self-interest.

    In contrast, the underlying principle of Archbishop Tutu's Christian ethics is the African notion of "ubuntu." Ubuntu is a difficult word to translate, but it connotes community, with the understanding that it's impossible to isolate persons from community, that there's an organic relationship between all people such that when we see another, we should recognize ourselves and the God in whose image all people are made. Interdependence and reciprocity, not independence and self-sufficiency, are the keys here. As Tutu magnificently says, "A self-sufficient human being is subhuman. I have gifts that you do not have, so consequently, I am unique--you have gifts that I do not have, so you are unique. God has made us so that we will need each other. We are made for a delicate network of interdependence."

    – Kerry Walters, reviewing Reconciliation: The Ubuntu Theology of Desmond Tutu by Michael Jesse Battle and Desmond Mpilo Tutu

    March 3, 2009

  • hemanth commented on the word ubuntu

    Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

    June 9, 2009

  • kypie27 commented on the word ubuntu

    "I wish all humans experienced and expressed a lot more 'Ubuntu,' which is the African concept of basically 'I'm not ok if we're not ALL ok.'" -Rosemary Pritzker http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rosemary-pritzker/paris-vs-beirut-a-balance_b_8594444.html

    December 4, 2015