Batho
/ˈbɑː.tʰuː/noun
A Southern African term, especially from Sesotho and Setswana, meaning “people” or “human beings.”
Did you know?Batho appears in the South African phrase “Batho Pele,” meaning “People First,” while its related concept Ubuntu became globally associated with shared humanity and communal ethics.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ba-ntu
“people; human beings, formed from a plural marker *ba- plus a root meaning person or being”
Early Bantu
Bantu
*ba-tu / *ba-ntu
“a plural expression for persons or people, with sound patterns varying across Bantu languages”
Southern Bantu
Sotho-Tswana
batho
“people; human beings”
19th Century
Sesotho/Setswana
batho
“people, persons, or the human community”
20th Century
South African English
batho
“a borrowed Southern African term for people, especially in political and cultural expressions”
Modern English
English
Batho
“people or human beings, generally used in South African contexts or in compounds such as “Batho Pele””