Eyemọtẹ

Yoruba

Etymology

Folk etymology states it comes from the phrase èyé (“mother”) +‎ mọ́ (“don't”) +‎ tẹ́ (“to be be put to shame”), believed to be a play on what was her original birth name Ifájẹ́mitẹ́ (literally “Ifa did not allow me to be put to shame”), which was later shortened with the word èyé (a term used as a title for older women or highly regarded women or priestesses) to become Èyémọ̀tẹ́.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /è.jé.mɔ̃̀.tɛ́/

Proper noun

Èyémọ̀tẹ́

1. (Ekiti) a legendary female leader, healer, seer and advisor of the town of Iyìn. Originally known by the name of Ifájẹ́mitẹ́, she was deified as an ancestral deity upon her death. She is regarded as a deity of protection and fertility, able to end famine and bring rain

Derived terms

• Ọbànị̀fọ̀n
• Ọlụ́a