ubuntu
/ʊˈbʊntuː/noun
ubuntu is spelled U-B-U-N-T-U: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ubuntu means “A Nguni Bantu ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in ubuntu?
| Letters | 6: U-B-U-N-T-U |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ubuntu?
Ubuntu appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce ubuntu?
- /ʊˈbʊntuː/
Ubuntu has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-Ubuntu_pronunciation.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does ubuntu mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A Nguni Bantu ideology focusing on people's allegiances and relations with each other.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ubuntu in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense ubuntu:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | ubuntu |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ubuntu come from?
Loanword from Zulu ubuntu (“humanity”) and Xhosa ubuntu (“humaneness, solidarity”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).