Word.ws English Dictionary

it takes a village to raise a child

it takes a village to raise a child proverb: an entire community of people must provide for, and interact positively with, children in order for those children to grow up healthily and safely.

Proverb

it takes a village to raise a child

  1. An entire community of people must provide for, and interact positively with, children in order for those children to grow up healthily and safely.

Synonyms of it takes a village to raise a child

Origin of it takes a village to raise a child

Unknown. Possibly an adage, borrowed as a calque from a neighboring or contact language. Gained popularity around 1990.

Questions about it takes a village to raise a child

What does it takes a village to raise a child mean?
It takes a village to raise a child means an entire community of people must provide for, and interact positively with, children in order for those children to grow up healthily and safely.
What part of speech is it takes a village to raise a child?
It takes a village to raise a child is a proverb.

Words near it takes a village to raise a child in the dictionary

  1. it self
  2. it takes a heap o' livin' to make a house a home
  3. it takes a heap of living to make a house a home
  4. it takes a lot of living to make a house a home
  5. it takes a village
  6. it takes a village to raise a child
  7. it takes all kinds
  8. it takes all kinds to make a world
  9. it takes all sorts
  10. it takes all sorts to make a world
  11. it takes one to know one

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: it takes a village to raise a child (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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