Extract from Prof. Michael Echeruo's Igbo dictionary to aid our gist! Go get a copy on amazon.com


asịrị n gossip; tale-bearing; hearsay. var. asịlị. *”A sịrị m a sịrị” = “someone said that another person said that ...”.

ásị́sá n sponge.

ásịsa n confession; confession of guilt or crime at death bed.

ásọ́ adj holy; sacred - ihe dị asọ = something holy. var. nsọ.

ásọ́ n saliva; spit - bụọ asụ = spit. var. asụ.

ásụ́ n saliva; spit. var. asọ.

asụ n poverty; indigence.

ásụ́kwụ́ n premium white yam, valued for the consistency and crispness of its smooth, and filling tuber.

ásụsụ́ n dialect; language; tongue - sụọ asụsụ Igbo = speak a language; asụsụ ha dịwara ice = their dialect is a little different.

átá n needle-grass; tares, a species of wild grass, collected and dried for use as roofing material.

atá n tendon - ata ọkpa = tendon of the leg or ankle; ata yọọ akwụ = the heel loses its spring or tone. var. atụ.

Átá ámá n (Nsụka) priest; chief priest.

átá inye n coarse mat woven from “ata” or spear-grass, or from raffia.

átá ná-éfú nwáta n hydrocephalus; over-sized head owing to accumulated water in the skull of an infant. *It is not clear what “ata”, in this context, means.

ata ọ́kpá n Achilles’s tendon. var. ata ụkwụ.

átákáná n ram; uncastrated male sheep. *See “ebunu” = ram.

átákéré n muddy or clayey soil. *synonymous with “ụrọ”, e.g. ụrọ ma ọbụ atakere- Omenụkọ.

átálámá n hermaphrodite; person born with male and female organs.

atámájá n name of age group responsible for security during “mgba” festivals at Afikpo; also known as the “peace group”.

átánị́ n bell.

átánị́ n portico or colonade; overhanging roof supported by posts.

átánị́ n bell. var. atañụ.

atanị n variety of field mouse; dormouse. var. asanị. (Graphiurus spp.).

átáñụ́ n bell. var. atanị.

átị n pus; discharge; resinous discharge from diseased eye.

atịkpa n antidote.

Atịlọ́gwụ n generic name for a family of festive dances, marked by fast-paced rhythms, colourful costumes and vibrant dancing by young men.