it takes a village
it TAYKS ah VIL-ij
ɪt teɪks ə ˈvɪlɪdʒListen
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Syllable breakdown
Dictionary meaning
raising a child well requires the effort, involvement, and support of the entire surrounding community rather than parents alone; the proverb reflects a communal approach to child-rearing found across many African, Asian, and indigenous cultures and was brought into mainstream Western discourse by Hillary Clinton's 1996 book; it is used broadly to suggest that complex challenges — not only child development but community projects, institutional change, and social care — require collective responsibility rather than individual effort
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