Agbala: woman: Also used of a man who has taken no title.
Chi: Personal god.
Efulefu: Worthless man.
Egwugwu: A masquerader who impersonates one of the ancestral spirits of the village.
Ekwe: A musical instrument; a type of drum made from wood.
Eneke-Nti-Oba: A kind of bird.
Eze-Agadi-Nwayi: The teeth of an old woman.
Iba: Fever.
Ilo: The village green, where assemblies for sports, discussions, etc., take place.
Inyanga: Showing off, bragging.
Isa-Ifi: A ceremony. If a wife had been separated from her husband for some time and were then to be re-united with him, this ceremony would be held to ascertain that she had not been unfaithful to him during the time of their separation.
Iyi-Uwa: A special kind of stone which forms the link between an ogbanje and the spirit world. Only if theiyi-uwa were discovered and destroyed would the child not die.
Jigida: A string of waist beads.
Kotma: Court messenger. The word is not of Ibo origin but is a corruption of “court messenger.”
Kwenu: A shout of approval and greeting.
dichie: Elders.
Nna ayi: Our father.
Nno: Welcome.
Nso-Ani: A religious offence of a kind abhorred by everyone, literally earth’s taboo.
Nza: A very small bird.
Obi: The large living quarters of the head of the family.
Obodo Dike: The land of the brave.
Ochu: Murder or manslaughter.
Ogbanje: a changeling: A child who repeatedly dies and returns to its mother to be reborn. It is almost impossible to bring up an ogbanje child without it dying, unless its iyi-uwa is first found and destroyed.
Ogene: a musical instrument: A kind of gong.
Oji odu achu-ijiji-o: Cow. (i.e., the one that uses that uses its tail to drive flies away.)
Osu: outcast. Having been dedicated to a god, the osu was taboo and was not allowed to mix with the freeborn in any way.
Oye: The name of one of the four market days.
Ozo: The name of one of the titles or ranks.
Tufia: A curse or oath.
Udu: A musical instrument; a type of drum made from pottery.
Uli: A dye used by women for drawing patterns on the skin.
Umuada: A family gathering of daughters, for which the female kinsfolk return to their village of origin.
Umunna: A wide group of kinsman. (The masculine form of the word umanda.)
Uri: Part of the betrothal ceremony when the dowry is paid.