Instant Ebook Access, One Click Away – Begin at ebookgate.

com

Igbo English Dictionary A Comprehensive Dictionary

of the Igbo Language with an English Igbo Index
1st Edition Michael J. C. Echeruo

https://ebookgate.com/product/igbo-english-dictionary-a-
comprehensive-dictionary-of-the-igbo-language-with-an-
english-igbo-index-1st-edition-michael-j-c-echeruo/

OR CLICK BUTTON

DOWLOAD EBOOK

Get Instant Ebook Downloads – Browse at https://ebookgate.com

Click here to visit ebookgate.com and download ebook now
Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Oxford Duden Pictorial English Dictionary with English

Arabic Index Moustafa Gabr

https://ebookgate.com/product/oxford-duden-pictorial-english-
dictionary-with-english-arabic-index-moustafa-gabr/

ebookgate.com

Olaudah Equiano and the Igbo World History Society and

Atlantic Diaspora Connections Chima J. Korieh

https://ebookgate.com/product/olaudah-equiano-and-the-igbo-world-
history-society-and-atlantic-diaspora-connections-chima-j-korieh/

ebookgate.com

English Lao Lao English Dictionary Russell Marcus

https://ebookgate.com/product/english-lao-lao-english-dictionary-
russell-marcus/

ebookgate.com

Japanese English Bilingual Visual Dictionary Japanese

English Bilingual Visual Dictionary 1st Edition Dk
Publishing
https://ebookgate.com/product/japanese-english-bilingual-visual-
dictionary-japanese-english-bilingual-visual-dictionary-1st-edition-
dk-publishing/
ebookgate.com
A Concise Dictionary of Middle English Middle English
Edition Anthony Lawson Mayhew

https://ebookgate.com/product/a-concise-dictionary-of-middle-english-
middle-english-edition-anthony-lawson-mayhew/

ebookgate.com

The Concept of the Supreme Being in Igbo Traditional

Religion A Critical Analysis for a Better Understanding
1st Edition Isidore Chika Orjikwe
https://ebookgate.com/product/the-concept-of-the-supreme-being-in-
igbo-traditional-religion-a-critical-analysis-for-a-better-
understanding-1st-edition-isidore-chika-orjikwe/
ebookgate.com

The Oxford New Greek Dictionary Greek English English

Greek Watts

https://ebookgate.com/product/the-oxford-new-greek-dictionary-greek-
english-english-greek-watts/

ebookgate.com

5 Language Visual Dictionary English French German Spanish

Italian Angeles Gavira

https://ebookgate.com/product/5-language-visual-dictionary-english-
french-german-spanish-italian-angeles-gavira/

ebookgate.com

A German Word Family Dictionary Together with English

Equivalents Howard H. Keller

https://ebookgate.com/product/a-german-word-family-dictionary-
together-with-english-equivalents-howard-h-keller/

ebookgate.com
Igbo-English
Dictionary
----c.o----
A Comprehensive Dictionary
of the Igbo Language with an
English-Igbo Index
---c.o------
Michael J. C. Echeruo

....•••
~
ai,

Longrnan
-~
----.,.,.----~--- ~ - -- ~ -

. "Longman Nigeria Plc

52 Oba Akran Avenue
P.M.B. 21036
Ikeja, Lagos State
Nigeria
'reI. (01) 4978925-9
Fax (01)4964370
E-mail: l(lngman@linksE:'rve.~om

Area offices and branches

Abuja, Agbor, Akure, Enugu, Ibadan, Ilorin, Ios, Owerri,
Zaria and representatives throughout Nigeria

All rights reserved. No part (If this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the copyright owner.

© Longman Nigeria Plc 2001

First published 2001

Reprinted 2003

ISBN 978 0264744

Printed by Orit Egwa Ltd, Dopemu, Agege, Lagos.

 la lovlnl lDe"'ry of my motlaer

(Ugoeze) Martba Nwiilari Echeruo

wbo worked wadi BleOD .1I1s Dledonary
till ller death in November, 1995
Map ofsouth-eastern Nigeria showing the Igbo Language area

,.
 Contents

Dedication III

Map of Igbo language area IV

Contents v

Abbreviations vi

Introduction VII

Acknowledgements XVII

Bibliography XVIII

Igbe-Euglish dictionary 1

English-Igbo index 177

Appendices
I. Suffixes and enclitics 277

Il. Numbers 279

Ill. Inkhom terms 280

 Abbreviations

adj adjective/adjectival noun Boob of the Bible

adv adverb/adverbial noun
alph letter of the alphabet . Acts Acts
aux auxiliaryto verbs Chr Chronicles
conj conjunction Cor Corinthians
dem demonstrative pronoun Oan Daniel
esp. especially Est Esther
excl exclamation or interjection Ezek Ezekiel
H . Hightone Ezra Ezra
inter interrogative pronoun Gen Genesis
L Low tone Heb Epistle to the Hebrews
lit literally Is Isaiah
n noun or nominal Jer Jeremiah
nom nominalisation Jn Letterto John
num numeral Job Job
prep preposition Lev Leviticus
pm pronoun l.k Luke
S Downstepped tone Mal Malachi
sfx suffix or enclitic Mt Matthew
v verb or verbal Numbers
Num
var variant Prov Proverbs·
Yor Yoruba Ps Psalms
Examples follow Rev Revelation
=
. Meaning follows Sam Samuel
Additional note follows Song Song of Songs
<> Etymological note Tit Letterto Titus
[] Encloses tone
() Encloses dialect zone

l
 1

Introduction
The Igbo language
Igbo is one ofthe eight major languages in the Benue-Congo Group ofAfrican languages (Williamson
1989). Spoken by some 20 million Nigerians, it is one of the three "national languages" (the others
being Hausa and Yoruba) so designated in the Nigerian Constitution. Although fairly sizeable
dictionaries are available for Yoruba and Hausa, nothing comparable exists for Igbo. This dictionary is
a modest first step towards meeting that need.
Every serious work on the Igbo language since J. P. Schon's Ibo Primer (1852) has had to
provide some listing ofIgbo words. Ofthe dedicated vocabulary lists, the best known are those of'S.
Crowther and J. P. Schon (1882 and 1883), the 1904 polyglot Ibo Dictionaryby A. Ganot (and his
Grammaire Ibo, 1879), Northcote W. Thomas's English-Ibo Ibo-English Dictionary (1913), and the
Dictionary ofthe Ibo Language: English-Ibo (1923) by Archdeacon T. J. Oeq and others. More
recently, we have R. G. Annstrong's Comparative Wordlist ofFire Igbo Dialects (1967), Igbo: A
Learner's Dictionary (1968) by B. F. Welmers and W. E. Welmers; and Kay WilIiamson's'Igbo-
English Dictionary (1972) which, although based on C. W. Pearman's manuscript wordlist,
incorporates the work of C, N. and E. l. Madiinagii who, under Dr. WiIliamson's guidance, added
new material to the collection.
Two dictionaries. have been produced by native speakers of the language: Okowa Okwu:
Igbo-English English-Igbo Dictionary (1962) by F. C. Ogbah; and A Modern Engltsh-Igbo Dictio,':ary
(1985) by H. l. Nnaji. Both are important pioneering efforts. AS the recent festschrift, F. C. Ogbalii
and the Igbo Language (ed. A. E. Afigbo, 1995) amply reminds us, Dr. OgbaIii was the motive force
behind the emergence of Igbo language revival and development. Although, therefore, there are
deficiencies in his compilation, it was his enthusiasm and commitment that has made much subsequent
work on Igbo possible. Every student oflgbo will remain grateful to him for that leadership. Okowa
Okwu, unfortunately, tried to do two things.at the same time: provide a list of original Igbo words,
and supply acceptable Igbo transliterations for English words in common use. especially in the
school system, e.g. bacteria = bakiteria, bank = banki, latitude = latitudi. Cantata = Kantata; and
sulphur = solufO. It did neither as satisfactorily as intended. Okowa Okwu has a short English-Igbo
wordlist, and an-evenshorter list of Igbo synonyms which was also intended to serve the community
ofstudents and teachers. H. I. Nnaji's Modern English-Igbo Dictionary ( 1985) is a different kind of
work. It offers meanings in both English and Igbo for a very wide selection of English headwords,
essentially translating standard dictionary definitions of the English headwords into Igbo.
This Dictionary ofthe 19bo Language is an attempt at a comprehensive reference work. It
collects discrete meaningful free-forms from various dialects of Igbo, and provides summary or
extended meanings with exampJes as necessary. Because it was not conceived of as a "learner's
dictionary", this volume has not tried specifically to find or provide lgbo equivalents for particular
English words. Quite the reverse: the dictionary has tried to identify Igbo words and to provide an
English-language gloss to those words in as approximate a sense as is possible. In consequence,
users anxious to find Igbo equivalents for particular English words may have to turn to the English
Igbo-Index for the closest synonym.
I'-~-el-e-c-ti-o-n-o-f-m-a-te-r-i-al-S----": :"'-----=------------­
Igbo Dictionary

Because this dictionary has been designed to be as comprehensive as possible. even ifnot definitive
in every instance, and to record and gloss all meaningful discrete word-forms in the various dialects
of Igbo, no distinctive occurring forms have been excluded. Accordingly. the following forms are
recorded:
a) distinctive forms that occur in any dialect, provided they can be accounted for by some general
phonological or other rule; e.g. okpala, okpara, okwala, okwara, opara (= first son); fa, ha, va,
wa (= they); mie, nwaami, nwanyi, nwunye (= wife; woman); and ele, elege, eleglti (= like, as);
b) "aberrant" forms, some of them adopted from other languages which occur but do not fit existing
rules, e.g. afe (= cloth, dress); akamu (= corn-starch); akupe (=fan); and oloma (= orange).
Although they have not been so categorised, these items fall into three classes:
i) ["native words"]: abali (= night-time), nkita (= dog). and iidara (= star apple);
ii) [derived words]: ecice (= thought [from cee = thinkj), mkpari (= ridicule [kpa-ria = ridicule]);
and
iii) [assimilated words]: anyanwii (= sun [from any a (= eye) + anwii (= sunlight)]. and eligwe (=
heaven [from elu = top, high + igwe = sky]). Indeed, almost all Igbo nouns of more than 3-
syllables are either nominalisations (ogbakoba (= assembly [from gba-kod], or re-duplicated
forms: e.g. igirigi (= dew), [gbaa] okirikiri (= surround) (Green and Igwe 1963; Anagbogii 1990).
Entry items have been collected from a variety of sources: classic texts such as the Protestant
Bible, Bible Nsii; existing dictionaries and wordlists; creative works of poetry. drama, and especially
fiction (from Pita Nwana's-Omeniiko to Tony Ubesie'sJiio Obinna); works written in English about
Igbo life -from Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart to Chukwuemeka Ikes The Bottled Leopard;
technical and periodic literature: from works on Agriculture, Religion and Anthropology to essays
and field studies on feminism and birth songs, for example. Inevitably. several other possible sources
of information have not been used, and the work of lexicography must remain a continuing one.

The new standard orthography (NSO)

The orthography adopted for this Dictionary is the New Standard Orthography (NSO) reproduced
below. It is an updated and modified version of the official Onwu Orthography (1961 ).
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, GB, GH, GW, H, I, I, J, K, KP, KW, L, M, N, NW, NY, N, 0,
0, P, R, S, SH, T, U, D, V, W, Y, Z
The New Standard Orthography (NSO) makes four changes to the 1961 orthography.
a) Sub-dotted vowel characters
The Onwu Orthography allowed Igbo to bewritten entirely in the Roman script, with only the exception
of the three closed vowels, i, 0, and u, with subscript dots under them. This particular exception has
led to techriical typographical complications which-could not have been foreseen in 1961. Underlining
ofIgbo texts has hitherto been plagued by technical'problems; in both handwritten and in some typed
texts, the sub-dots have invariably been overwritten or typed-over by the underlining character.
Moreover, by using the sub-dot, the Onwii Orthography consigned Igbo, unintentionally, to a script
group to which, by the very nature of its sound system. it did not belong. In any event. although some
Nigerian languages use sub-dotted vowels (e. g. Efik and Yoruba), there are other Nigerian languages
which use "unconventional" characters. An example is Kanuri with an absurd minuscule "0" as a sub-
dot under "a" and "e." Igbo does not. therefore, jeopardise any pan-Nigerian orthographical convention
by simplifying its practices. To resolve these problems, the New Standard Orthography (NSO) replaces
the sub-dotted vowels with umlauted ones ( I; 0; and ii ).
b) The "eh" digraph
"Ch" is redundant as a digraph. That is to say. iflgbo had a "c" there would perhaps be justification
for "ch" but that is not the case. Nowhere in the Igbo language does a situation arise in which "eh" is

viii
 Introduction

in complementary distribution with "e" , In addition, the Onwu Orthography does not allow Igbo to
have a simple "e" although it is well understood that Igbo "eh" is neither "a clear-cut cluster" nor "a
combination of c and h" but "a single sound" (Emenanjo, 1978) . Whereas with other Igbo consonant
clusters (gb; gh ; gw; kp ; and sh), the component elements are themselves characters within the
alphabet, in.their own right, the matter is different for " eh" , We thus have a character made up of"c"
and "h" when the "c" does not occur independently in the alphabet. One consequence of thi s
situation is that in enumerations, an alphabetical listing that begins with "a, b .. : ' must-use "eh" --
because "e" is not a letter in the alphabet. The New Standard Orthography (NSO) resolves this
difficulty by replacing the digraph "eh" throughout with a simple "c". It is a modest but impo rtant
change. It may be a difficult change for some people to accommodate, but it is a necessary one .

c) Sort order
It has long been recognised that the order of the Igbo alphabet in the Onwii Orthography needed
modification. In proposing a revision to "simplify the work of lexicographers and in consonance
with existing international practices," the Standardisation Committee recommended the following
order:
a b, e, d, e, f, g, gb, gh , gw, h i, i, it k. kp, kw l, m. n, d, nw, oy 0 , 0, p r, 50 sti, I u it, v w, y z
The New Standarii Orthography (NSO) has mo dified this ord r furthe r by moving " ii" to a position
after ' nw' and " b y", as had indeed been proposed years ago (lgwe and Green [1964 ]). This change
realises the ful l logic of an alpbabetically-ordered orthography, TIlls orde r i follo wed throughout
this dictionary. Accordingly. j ust as 0 and agii come before agba, 0 also anwii and anyii come
before ana, and ¥> en.

d) The voiced velar nasal, ii

The voiced velar nasal has been variously represented in the Igbo orthography. In the Onwu
orthography, it is represented as an "n" with a super scripted dot (ri), Thisvariation, like its predecessors,
i\ and I), is a non-standard character which does not exist in the Internat ional character set. The New
Standard Orthography has replaced it with n, which is a standard character available to both the
specialist and the general public alike. With this change, all four unique characters ofthe Igbo alphabet
(I, 0, u and ii) can now be written and printed with standard characters by all and sundry.

The status of "sh"

Although initial "sh" appears in only a handful of words, but relatively more frequently in medial
positions, yet it does not replace "s" in those po itions , and so justifies its existence as a distinct item
in the Igbo orthography and oun d sy tem . The ins tances of initial occurrence are mostly dialectal,
but m'edial occurrence cut across zones. It i poss ible that its fate in a future Igbo language, like that
of "v ' (and, in certain contexts, of " f" will b determ ined by the relative pace of standardisation in
conj unction with the discernible movem . nt of the language in the direction of increasing devoicing of
many of its consonants.

Arrangement ofthe dictionary

The Dictionary provides the following features:

a) Igbo headword
This is either a free-form word (udo = cable; bia = come), or a longer noun or verb phra se (ibe nna =
uncle; abali-di-egwu = armed robbery; or tiikwasi obi = have confidence in).·

b) Grammatical class
Grammatical class (using abbreviations) is indicated in italics immediately after the headword The two
main classes identified are, ofcourse, nouns and verbs. Others are adjectives, adverbs. conjunctions,

ix

. . . . . .- _. . .- - - - _...........--=-=-=-==---=-- - - - - - -
 tgbo Dictionary

exclamations or interjections , prepositions, and suffixes. Classification has not been complicated for
nouns and verbs: all nouns, except for loan words. have an initial vowel, semi-vowel or syllabic
nasal; the verbs. without exception , ha e initial consonants. Adjectives and adverbs are a different
matter, as is well-known . The use of the term "qualificative noun" instead of adject ive is helpful in
drawin g attention to the problem : but it solves nothing (Emenanjo, 1978). The fact is that ome Igbo
nouns (but not most) can be used to serve expl icitly "adjectival" functions without a change in fOIDl
or tone. When serving that function, they are usually "marked" by a preceding "dl"' verb. Nouns that
function in this way can. however, be identified only by their semantic character. In this dictionary,
therefore. they have been listed as nouns and a adjectives (e.g. ogologo n = length; ogologo adj =
long). Where this is impossible. J have preserved their classifi cation a nouns but added a note to the
gloss when the English equivalent is actually an adjective. Additionally. in the English-Igbo Index.
the English equivalents of these Igbo nouns/adjective are identified as "adjec tives." as they must be.
A similar difficulty arises with adverbs. sometimes called "adverbial nouns" by those who
assert quite flatly that "there is no syntactic class of adverbs in Igbo' . although "adverbial notions
are frequently found" (Emenanjo, 1978). Where a noun can serve as adverb; where the word that
serves that function does not otherwise satisfy the first conditions for a noun-class word. it i classified
exclusively as an adverb. All adverbs. in addition. satisfy the simple test ofbeing minimally functional,
for example. after mee (as in mee gar'i gar'i; mee osiso). For this rea on. most ideo phones are
classified as adverbs. Most adverbs would consequently be expected to take the form of duplicated
adjectivals; as for example, ngwa ngwa .
c) Tone
Because tone-m arking is not obligatory in Igbo, and because there has been no agreement as to
whether all or only "low" and "downstepped" tones should be marked. this dict ionary has taken the
comprom ise route and indicated tone in capital letters wirhirrsquare brackets n[ [", Because ofvariations
in tone across dialects (and among users). the tones given in this dictionary may not always correspond
to those known to particular native users. espec ially as no particular dialect has been regarded as
"standard". However, every attempt has been made to ensure that the tone recorded is actual and
current in the language . Some errors of transcription (and a great deal of genuine disagreement) are
certa in to arise in this effort, and correct ion that are necessary will be made in future editions.
d) Dialect zone
In a number of instances. dialect zones have been indicated after the headword . This designation is
intended to identify a particularlocale (or region) for some words, but mostly as a matter of detail
especially for those forms that (for reasons ofdialect purity) are not interchangeable between dialects;
e,g.. rie ihe (Owere); lie ire (Onica) = eat something. but not *rie ire. or *lie ihe . There is no attempt
to provide dialecta l locations on a regular or consistent basis. In addition . the designations "Onica"
and "Owere" are used both for forms local to the two towns. as well as for usages associated with the
two main dialect areas. Similarly, some ofthe names given for zones refer to towns . local government
areas, even electoral constituencies. Although the practice may make zoning somewhat untidy, it
nevertheless allows for specific additional (and useful) information to be provided regarding the
occurrence of particular words .
e) Meanings
Meanings have been given as briefly and as succinctly as possible; in fact; in many cases. explanatory
definitions have been found unnecessary, and so single word meanings have been provided; as. for
example, mmiri = water! However, with culture words, and with verbaIs. addit ional information, and "
examples, have been provided . Many names of plants. and animals have only been given generic
definition. mainly because identification with English equ ivalents has not always been possible , or
has been problematic. In these cases. for this edition of the dictionary, ~ have listed the word primarily
so as to preserve its form and general meaning . Wherever possible, howe ver. I hare given technical or

x
 Introduction

sci ent ific names for plants and animals. It should be pointed out that some of these scientific names
have changed over the years, and a current set of terms will have to be worked into future ed itions.
Sometimes a list ofmeanings is provided which cannot all be exactly right. A good example
is anyii, which is rendered as "cucumber; melon; pumpkin." As is obvious, the word cannot be all
three th ings . But because these items have not been satisfactorily identified, and because usage of
these English equivalents has been extremely loose , many lgbo speakers have found themsel ves
using any or all of the three English words indicated when referring to anyu .
When mo re than one major meaning ha been provided, numbers have been used to mark
the ir boundaries. Nothing is implied in the order of the entries regarding what is usually thought of as
primary and secondary meanings' or fOT tha t matter, idiomatic or other specialised usages of the
word. Wh ere the differences in meaning are slight (akwa = "cloth" , " clothing" , "dress," for example),
numbers have been el iminated altogether and meanings have been separated on ly by semi-colons.

f) Examples
As a matter ofpoIicy, examples have been provided only where they are absolutely necessary. Since
the body of published material on which to base reliable citations of usage is relatively limited,
ingenious examples created-by the lexicographer can often become self-serving and unverifiable
instruments. Such examples have been avoided.

g) Variants
Varian ts are defmed here as phonologicall y related alremative form s of headwords. They exclude
synonyms. Only significant variants (Le. variants that would otherwise be lost or m istaken for other
words) are listed it isnot im plied in an y way that a particular variant is restricted to the zone indicated.
No pre ference isexpressed or implied as to the importance or status of any variant. Hence, for example,
okpal~ okpara ok w al a, and opara are listed as variants of one another. Nor is the list of dialect
variants exh aus ti ve as some recent studies of d ialect variants for common body parts have
demonstrated. Where the variant is actually a different lexical entity (e.g, "think" = cee [Owere]; loo
[Onitsha]), attention has been drawn to the fact in an asterisked (* ) Note.

h) Etymology
Etymological and derivational notes for particular words are given in angled brackets. These notes
range from obvious instances ofborrowing as Maazi from "Monsieur" and parallel cognates such as
okwute and Yoruba okuta (= "rock') to more problematical items concerning Ijaw roots for ogumabiri
(= "daily market"), and YorubalNubian sources for ala (= "earth")!

i) Related words
Where necessary or useful, short Dotes have been provided directing the reader to particular
connections or usages between the word in question and other words and usages. Such notes have
been marked by a single asterisk, and come immediately after meanings and examples.

SpeDingconventions
Igbo is essentially a two-syllable (VCV or CV(V» language. Extensi ons of this basic syllabic structure
are usually. VCV+CV(V). or VCV +VCv. Most junctures are , therefore. marked by double vowel
seq uen ces - which th en ar e affec ted by rules of assimilation. The practical problem for Igbo
lexicography is to maintain a balance between, on the one band, retaining scribal forms whichpreserve
the assimilated syllabic form, and, on the other. re-consriruting those forms into their original ind ividual
word unitslinked by blank spaces or hyphens. The latter must be done often if the underlying links
within compounded multi-syllabic words are not to be lost. To complicate matters . Igbo words are
often truly complete statements, e.g. Dwunyemkpiiriiiidaasii ii (= allophone). lit"the wife of me seed
ofthe sound/phone ofa language." As written, it is virtually un-pronounceable and awkward. There
are many words, not as tedious as this, which raise serious problems for spellers. Because existing

xi
 lgbo Dictionary

texts themselves carry both forms in no particular order and for no particular reason. both forms and
spellings will be recorded and cross-referenced. as circumstances dictate .
The Standardisation Committee of the Society for the Promotion of lgbo Language and Culture,
through its influence on the school system and the examinations proces s up to the university level.
has had a very salutary effect on the standardisation of Igbo spelling conventions. Still, as is perhaps
to be expected. much remains to be done . In fact. some of the conventions already established may
need to be reviewed. For example, the Committee's recommendation that lgbo words be spelt "us
pronounced except where convention has established a particular spelling" becomes problematic
when the Committee does not quite indicate which "conventions" are to be regarded as "established."
The Standardisation Committee also recommends that "each of the two or more elements which has
an independent and identifiable meaning, should be written separately". but makes exceptions of"all
kinship terms" (except "professions usually preceded by di") and "fossilised forms" such as "dike,
dibia, nwoke, nwata, okorobia, agboghobia, usekwu , and ugoloma." Other writers have made their
own exceptions.
Established spelling usages for personal and place names. for example. have remained largely
unstandardised, and this dictionary has not attempted to impose a standard method for re-writing
these names. It is easy enough to attempt such an exercise with "Onitsha" ()n"ical . " Awka (Oka) or
"Owerri" (Owere), Names like "Afikpo" (Ehu Ugbo ). "Umuahia" (O ma ahr a or "'m u ahia ) create
problems requiring a fuller uncovering of histor y and a sifting f' folk et. mologrcs and genea log ies to
resolve. In the absence of writers and publishers independent I the tandardi uion nnrnittee and
the competition for book sales, the determination of spelling. con entions ha. been leti to schoolmasters
and examiners who have used the penalty of fai lure at publ ic examinati ns [0 uupo e a pelling
convention neither justifiable in logic, nor in the eco nomy of effort it require s. This dictionary has
been a victim ofthis state ofaffairs . In the absence Ia widely canvassed and fully developed spelli ng
convention, and lacking the benefit of the authority of independent creativ e writers. the dictionary
has applied a minimalist rule to all words encountered; namely, whenever in doubt. to separate out the
component parts ofcompound words . The rule can be expanded as follows: wherever an independent
unbound meaningful unit can be identified in a lexical item of at least three (or four) syllables, the
unit has been kept apart (with or without a hyphen) for the convenience of users, and the benefit of
lexicography, rather than as a prescription for spelling. Nothing is lost. in relation to the lexicon. but
the extra space or hyphen ; what is gained, however, is a fuller appreciation of the original structure of
the word from its combining elements.
Arising from this . too, have been duplications and apparent inconsistencies. The entries elu
i~we, elu-igwe and eligwe represent three phases of the spelling standardisation scheme. The first
gives the two elements out of which the word " heaven" was compounded: the second. with the tell-
tale hyphen. indicates the very close formation that has developed between them : the third shows the
two bonded together in a word which existing texts have spelt in this particular way . Nothing,
obviously. prevents speakers of the language from pronouncing all three forms alike. From a
lexicographer's point of view, the first consideration has been the preservation, wherever possible.
of compounding elements that are also lexical items in their own right .

Tone and default tone

Igbo is a two-tone (High. Low) language: akwa [HHJ (= tear); akwa [HL] (= cloth): akwa [LHJ (=egg);
akwa [LLJ (:. bridge): saa [HHJ (= be wide or outspread): and saa [LH] (= answer: give reply to). The
so-called Class 5 nouns (c.g. agii [HSJ = leopard) which feature i.~ downsrepped high tone in the
second syllable. are not as unique as previously believed. since they all also permit a semantically
acceptable HH tone pattern (Echeruo, 1996). Thus , although agii [HH and HS) ( == tiger) occurs in the
language. and is meaningful ; akwa [HS] may occur in a sequence. but would be meaningless in
isolation. From this consideration alone . it is obvious that only tone patterns which can occur with
meaning in isolation from other syntactical processes need have a place in the determination of the

Xll
 Introduction
form and boundaries of an Igbo word.
Thi dictionary therefore, works from the po ition that minutely exactphonetic tone-marking
ofwrittenlgbo is unacceptable and untenable. uch an act is a denial of orthography itself Such a
result cannot be the goal of eith er orthography or lexicography , Tone-marking must onl represent a
stable pattern fo r partic ular lexical items seen as isolable units . It is this to" pattern, not the many
possible patterns a lexical item may manifest in various syntactic and phou logical environments,
that must be represented. I call this the "default lexical tone." Hence. although akwa = tear) may
occur in many contexts with a variety of tone patterns (in assoc iative constructions, for example), yet
it is co nsistently represented by its default [HH] too! pattern.
To repeat: entri e carry their default tone values; that is, the tones with which they are identified
in their primary entry; thus ignoring tone change dictated by the contingent environment Ama
iigha (= false witness) as an entry retains the default tones of its constituent units: ama ([LL] =
information) and iigba ([LH] = a lie), even though the compound word is realised with a different
tonal pattern io actual spe ech.

Dialec and a standard language

tudents oflgbo used to speak ofth language 's six dialect zones: Plains; Osimili; Savannah; Omambala;
Central; D elta: and Enyom. More politically-minded investigators have preferred to see otherwise
obviously Igbo dialects as quite different languages. That phase of political sc holars hip is almost
ove r though vestiges remain in certain areas. Informally though,Igbo peak ers know among others,
ofAhoada, Bende, Ika (Western Igbo) Ikwerre lzzi Mbaise, Nsuka, Obowo, Ohiihii. 6rnca (Onitsba)
and Owere (Owerri) dialects, etc . Actually, as with many other languages though not exactly for the
same reasons, many intermediate and transitional groupings exis t. As is clear from Peannan 's work , an
Igbo dictionary based on a particular dialect (Onica, in th is instance) may not be- as unique in its
lexicon as might be supposed.
In general there are two major dialect zones. in Igbo : Owere and Omca, although quite
ignificant variations occ ur within each zone. Indeed the zones are defined by a general combination
ofsyntactical. Iexical. and phonological features rather than exclusively by anyone of those elements.
Thi is important to bearin mind., especially because many specialised wo rd are to be found across
dialect zones in small well-defined pocketsofusage. Within the Onicazone, the followiogsubregions
can be identified: We t Igbo; Osomari'; siika-Udi; and Izi-Abakaliki. The trong local variations in
the Oka area and the transitional features ofthe Ihiala-Uli complex may also be noted. The Owere zone
incorporates such distin ct sub-regions as Mbaise; Afikpo-Eda; Obaafia-Bende-OhUhii; gwa-Aziimini
an d lkwere-Ahoada. It i impo rtan t to emphasize that although, a with all language comm uni ties,
m utual inte lligibility i impaired or restricted acre s these dialect (and sub-regional) zones, the basic
elements of the language remain constant 'throughout.
Wo rk for this dictionary has shown that the phonological boundaries do not always coincide
with the lexical. Word forms have been foun d in widely separated amd non-contiguous areas of
lgboland. For the purposes of this dictionary... therefore, recording existing dialect variants has been
more important than identifying their preci e dialec t zones. Over the years, a written standard Igbo
(called Ig bo Izu gb e, by the Standardisation Co mmittee) has been gaining currency in educational
institutions. the mass media, as well as in popular publications. Th is standard language draws from
two main ari etie s ofspoken 19b : a "generalised Owerri/Umuahia lgbo " and a "genera lised Onitsha
Igbo" (Emenanjo, 1978). While the dri e for a standard language makes ermnent ense with regard
to str ucture. it is an impoverishing development when applied to the lexicon. What this dictionary
does is to try to record the totallgbo word-stock, and give writers (and peakers the fre edom to use
the language as creatively and as unabashedly as they wish , knowing that readers and listeners have
a reference work to aid comprehension.
How best to represent the variations in spoken Igbo across the language area is beyond the
scope of this dictionary to determine. It is however clear that how we read texts depends on conventions
that are not entirely dependent on spelling. It is possible, therefore, for a reader of ar. Igbo text to

XIII
 Igbo Dictionary

pronounce am; ahii, or avii as he or she chooses, depending on the dialect base that determines his
or her spoken form of Igbo. Texts demand dialectal accuracy and fidelity only in creative or academic
works where dialectal variations are tokens of character definition and scholarly precision.

Igbo verbals
T his dict ionary tries to accord Ig bo verbals a place in the lexicon co mpara ble to that wh ich they
enjoy in the grammars. There have been harp disagreements among sc holars as to the exact boundarie
o f an Igbo verb class , arising from om very basic prob lem ofde finitio n (Uwalaka, 1983 : Emenanjo,
1983a ; Ojr, 19"83 and Nwachukwu, 1983b). This rate of' uncertainry rais . pro blems for lexicography.
First. Igbo ver bs have, for the most part, been studie d under their stem and infinitive forms and are
so li ted in existing voc abulary lists . As a result. for example, Igbo verbs are listed or cited under two
vowels; " i " or "a"
i-» (i-le [= to look], i-li [= to bury]; i-Io [= to swallow], i-Iu [= to throw]);
a-» (i-la [= to go back home], i-la [= to ignore a wrong], 1-10 [= to dream], and'a-lii [= to
marry].)
.econdly. an d qui te as im portantly. some of the more crucial distinctions which need to be
made in Jgb o verba l studie are ob cured by th e reliance on either infinitive or stem citations after
th e man ne r of the European la nguages. The difference between so-called Class I and Class 2 verbs
would. for example , be unnoticed unles the imperat ive forms of these verbs are examined
t wachukwu, 19 3a). Furtherm ore , a chara cteris t ic feature of Igbo is the manner in which its verbs
res pond (phenological ly) in the im perative mood. The-evidence shows that Igbo verbs follow a very
rigi d gri d when forming positive imperative forms . and this grid is tell-tale oftheir other characteristics.
Igbo verb , a this d ictionary demonstrate , ha ve defining two-syllable endings. as follows : -aa, -ee.
-ie, -Ia, - 0 0, -00. and -iio . Th ere are. indeed. instan ces when this scheme appears not to be operative.
as with l\'elii an d were (= take). But eve n in uch instances, there is a parallel form wee which has the
same meaning, Whet her we sho uld conclude fro m this that the 2-syllablt: imperative form evolved in
the ame way fro m -re and -lii is another matter. What is clear is that Igbo verbs are better accounted
for by using their positi ve imperative forms than the stem forms so habitually in use in Western
linguistics . On e cle ar ad anlage of this is that all Igbo verbs can be found distributed over the
co nsonant s which are the firs t element of their structure. At the same time. the cited forms are also
semantically viable; that is, meanings can be attached to them in ways that arc more specific than
wou ld be po ssibl e with stem-forms.
T hirdly , the se verb- forms are glossed together with the nouns which complete their meaning.
O bj ection s have been rai ed aga inst fhe argument that all lgbo verbs have an obligatory noun
complement; it has been sho wn, for exam ple. that the noun complements in some lgbo verbs are not
equival nt to Latin ac cusa tive (Uwa laka, 1983 ). Still. as the evidence of this dictionary shows. Igbo
verb ac tually appear in the following form ats:
a) independent forms laa = go; go home
b) conditional forms i) laa di = get married
ii) laa n'Iyi = go to waste
iii) laa elu = rise
Quite as importantly, then, there are Igbo verbs that never appear as independent forms ; there are
verbs ( e.g. gbaa or kwaa) which attain their full semantic form only in the presence of a noun
complement. These forms have a phone-semantic core of meaning which can only be fully realised
in the actual presence of a noun complement. In this sense, the "verb", properly-speaking. is neither
-gbaa nor kwaa in isolation but the expression "gbaa (or kwaa) + complement", We do not know
enough about the phone-semantic basis of the Igbo language to make any serious detenninations as
to how these various verbal forms should be classified or grouped from a lexical point of view. What
is apparent on the present evidence is that the lgbo verb does involve a noun complement, although
that complement may be realised as a "null" in some instances. ' '

xiv
 Introduction
III these circumstances, this D ictionary lists lee and nee (= look); it also li ts the full forms,
lee nya, and nee anya . as well as other rela ted forms (Iee/ree = be effective (of medicine. charm]'
leeJree = sell; leeJree = rot and le ree = burn). It also lists simi larly constructed forms : baa anya;
c.aa aoya: daa anya; baa aoya; kaa aoya; kpuo anya; r~a anya; roo anya; aa anya; taa an ya;
waa an ya; and wee anya .
Finally. the dic tionary has avoided sub-classifying erbs as tran itive or intransitive; as auxiliary,
complementary, relational or copulative. These labels do not directly affect the le ical enterprise,
alth ou gh they enable s tuden ts of ot her languages to recognise in what ways Igbo differs from the
langua ges they alrea dy know. The so-called auxiliaries ( di ga, ka, ma, na ) and copulas (b u, di, no and
wii ) are. in this context. better see n as verb forms that never take the direct positive imperative'
when they do they cease to be auxil iaries or co pulas in function ~ meaning. a situation not very
different from that of the so-called compound erbs (e.g. dapuo [<daa + puo] = fall + ha e a gap or
ope ning) in which. for the positive imperative, the end-verb carries the appropriate inflectional ending.

English-Igbo index
Part Two ofthe dictionary is the English-Igbo Inde x. This index has been generated from the English-
word meaning field ofthe main Igbo dictionary da tabase. It is strictly an index. For example, the Igbo
entry, agba (with variations in tone) generates th e following English equivalent entries in the index:
~ appointrnent~ £bin; k.QlQ[; contract; covenant; epoch ; fork of road ; indjgence;~; leucoderma;
Wlin; ~; schedule; skin dis ease: swelling; testament; ~; and ~. Similarly, under English
"whip:' for example, rea ders will find Igbo equi valents: agba: agba osisi: agbala aja; anya acii;
ana: aiiu; apipiJl' ekwe: nail; itari~ mkpisi~ okpili; and iitali. Every English word. then. for which
there is an equivalent word or phrase in lgbo will appear as a headword. What the index does not do,
however is attempt to be a key to translating particular English words into Igbo.

History of the Dictionary

This Dictionary began as an attempt to implement an idea (Echeruo, 1972) . It sought to take advantage
of the highly structured nature of the Igbo language to develop some general rules by which all two-
and three-syllable words - from aba to iiziizu: from bau to ZUzU6 - might be generated. The resulting
w rdl ist wo uld then be ubj ected to inten sive field review to determine which of the words generated
in the ex ercise existed in the lgbo lexicon. The task of developing those rules continues: but it became
clear ov er the years that the cons truction of rules requi red to define the structure of poly-syllabic lgbo
wo rds was a maj or undertaking in itself. Because the law of word-formation and combination in 19b
are yet to be fully understood, more nonsense words were being generated than .eerned reasonable
to use as research base. Moreover. even if satisfactorily completed, the list would not sub uanually
obviate the need to compile a wordlist oflgbo using fairly traditional lexicographic methods. By 1993
I had to suspend wo rk on that aspect of the project.
There can be no do ubt now tbatthe grammarof lgbo will eventually be better revealed through
a fuller unde rstandin g o f its ph o ne -se man tic morphology. In my viev . the uccess of any
com pre hen ive standardisatio n initiative. and even the via bility ofany effort to invent new words tor
modem conditions, will depe nd on how closely any formulations in that regard conform to. or at lea t
acknowledge, the word-and meaning-making habits ofthe lgbo language. for example. vowel harmony
has beco me a sta ple of our des cription of the Igbo sound system. Standardising the language by
invoking the vowel harmonising principle will, in ODe simple step, remove one large area of uncertainty
not only in the lexicon, but also in the exceptions that must be: made to many a rule of syntax or
phon o logy. But that step cannot yet be taken because not enough theoretical work has been done to
dete rm ine the ex tent to which har mony, includi ng recently proposed principles of " conso nant
harmony". pre-determines semantic and yntacti c viability in lgbo ; or to explain why certain
barmonissing sequences, but not others. are permitted within the language's lexicon. The most
im portant studies' touching o n vowel harmony sinc e Carnochan's (1960) mostly address the mode

xv
 l1.L...llli --'~.....,...'.~

Igbo Dictionary

and place ofproduction for the two groups ofvowels . But the logic by which combinations of certain
consonants and vowels are validated appears mostly neglected. A generated word-list could , therefore,
still provide us with a bank of information that will help us better understand how lgbo works by
displaying the thousands oflogically-possible segments which have not made it into the Igbo lexicon.
On present evidence, the reason for their exclusion appears to be largely phono-semantic.
A dict ionary is always work-in-progress. Each new day brings to mind a new word or phrase;
or a better understanding of an existing entry. The work of comp iling a comprehensive dictionary of
Igbo will, therefore, never ever end. It is my earnest hope that thi dictionary will serve as the basis
for even better, more accurate , and more comprehensive record 0 f the word- hoard ofthe Igbo language .

xvi

- I - - . . , - - - -- - ,
 Acknowledgements
The preparation ofthis dictionary has been more time-conswning than might have been the case,
mainly because I chose, as a matter of principle, to enter and edit every entry and gloss myself. The
days and years spent on the keyboard have, however, not been entirely needless; for this work with
all its deficiences is truly my little labour of love. I have nobody to blame for any inaccuracies but
myself. But I have many people to thank for encouragement and assistance. Among them, I may
make special mention ofthe following:

Chief Philip Edomobi of Umunwno, whose comments on a.draft of the dictionary saved me from
many blunders; Prof. Eugene L Nwana ofNnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria, and his father,
Chief B . Egwuatii Nwana ofAwka, for a detailed review of the dictionary especially as it related to
Oka culture; Dr. Paul C.lheakararn, Dean ofthe School ofArts and Hwnanities, Alvan Ikoku College
ofEducation, Owerri, who read through the entire dictionary at its earliest stages. and helped coordinate
my data collection efforts; Mr Ogbolue of lsele Uku, Delta State. Nigeria, with invaluable material
from the West Niger area; Arc. Matthew Nwachukwu now oflmo State University, Owerri, Nigeria,
who was my first assistant on the project; Dr. P. A. Ezikeojiaku of Imo State University, Owerri,
Nigeria, for guidance with tone marking; Dr. Omen Maduka-Durunze of Abia State University, Uturu ,
Nigeria, the leading authority on Igbo phono-semantics, for many hours of invaluable discussion;
Prof. Chukwuma Aziionye, of the University.of Massachusetts, Boston, for making available to me
his transcriptions of epic poetry from the Ohafia and Bende areas ; Prof. Rornanus N. Egudu, of the
University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria (formerly Education Attache at the Nigerian Mission in
Washington), for his close review of some of the glosses and entries in their earl iest forms; Chief
Solomon Amadiume, Eze-Ideyi of Nnobi (and author of two reference works on Igbo customs) for
expert assistance on Igbo proverbs and culture; Prof. Chukwuma Azuonye of the University of
Massachusetts for permission to use material from his unpublished collection of epic poetry from the
Item-Ohafia-Bende area; Prof. Ononye Tess Onwueme of the University of Wisconsin at Eau'Claire,
Illinois, for help with many West Niger dialect words; Prof. Emma N. Obiechina who shared his
wealth of information on Igbo culture, and especially on Igbo fish-lore with me : Dr. Donatus Ibe ,
Department of Agronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, whose help was invaluable in tracking
down the botanical names oflgbo plants; Prof. Ebo Ubahakwe of the University of lbadan, Nigeria,
my first resource associate on the project, who has continued to offer moral support to the project;
Mr. 1. A. O . Umeh of the Department of Linguistics, Alvan lkoku College of Education, Owerri,
Nigeria, who so generously gave of careful and sensible judgment; Mr. Ezekiel Oyouwa ofAmaediaba
Nkpa, Abia State, Nigeria, whose knowledge of Igbo history and culture clarified many an intractable
problem; Mrs Ihuoma Emejiiaiwe of Alvan lkoku College of Education. Owerri, who helped with
matters relating to women; my nephews and nieces, Emeka, Ifeanyi, Adamma, Uzoma, and Obinna
Echeruo who spent many hours spotting missing items from the dictionary; and my brother, Sen.
Emeka P. Echeruo, and his wife, pr. Chinelo U. Echeruo, for many months of service as couriers and
inform ants.

1wish especially to thank my wife, Dr. Rose N. Echeruo, and our children -Ike, Oke , Ijeorna,
Chinedu, and Ugonna - who served as the sounding board for every improbable Igbo word or phrase,
and who appear to have survived the experience.

I am particularly grateful to Syracuse University for the time and facilities made available to
me in the course of this work.

Michael J. C. Echeruo
14 March, 1997

xv ii
 Igbo Dictionary

Bibliography

Adams,R.F.G.
1932 A Modern Ibo Grammar. London : Oxford University Ptess .
Afigbo, A. E. 00.
1995 F. C. Ogbalii and the Igbo Language. Onitsha, Nigeria: University Publishing Co.
Anagbogu, Philip N.
1990 The Grammar ofIgbo Nominalisations. Onitsha , Nigeria: University Publishing Co.
Anagbogu, P. N.
1995 "F . C. Ogbalu and Igbo Lexicon." In F. C. Ogbalii and the Igho Language. A. E. Afigbo, ed.
Onitsha , Nigeria : University Publishing Co. Pp. 181,- 185
Armstrong, R. G.
1967 A Comparative Word List of Five Igbo Dialects. Occasional Publications, no. 5. Ibadan:
Institute of African Studies, University oflbadan, Ibadan, Nigeria .
Carnochan,J.
1960 "Vowel Harmony in Igbo". African Language Studies I: I55-163.
Carrell, Patricia L.
1970 A Transformational Grammar ofIgbo . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clark. Mary M.
1990 The Tonal System ofIgbo. Publications in African Languages and Linguistics. Providence,
'RI : Foris Publications .
Echeruo, Michael J. C.
1972 "The Future ofIgbo Studies : A Very Modest Proposal". In Igbo Language and Culture . ed.
F. C. Ogbalu and E. N. Emenanjo. vo\. 21badan: University Press Ltd., pp. 228-237.
1995 'The Case-Tone Factor in Igbo Nouns" . AAP 43 (March. 1995)
Emenanjo,E.N.
1978 Elements ofIgbo Grammar. Ibadan, Nigeria: Oxford University Press.
1983 "Verb Derivational Morphology". In Readings on the Igbo Ve~·h . P. A. Nwachukwu. pp. 43-
59. Onitsha , Nigeria: Africana-Fep Publishers.
Emenanjo, E. N.; l. A. O. Umeh; and J. U.Ugoji, eds.
1990 Igbo Metalanguage: A Glossary ofEnglish-Igbo Technical Terms in Language, Literature.
and Methodology. vo\. 1 Ibadan: University Press Ltd.
Ezikeojiakii, P. A.
1989 Fonoloji na Utoasusu Igbo. Ibadan, Nigeria: Macmillan Nigeria Publishers Ltd.
Green, M. M., and G. E. Igwe
1963 A Descriptive Grammar ofIgbo. Berlin and London: Akademie- Verlag; Oxford University
Press.
Igwe, G. E., and M. M. Green
1970 A Short Igbo Grammar in the Official Igbo Orthography. Ibadan [Nigeria]: Oxford
University Press.
Ikekeonwu, Clara I.
1985 "Aspects of Igbo Dialectology: A Comparative Phonological Study of Onitsha and Central
Igbo Dialects." Journal of West African Languages 15 (October) :93- I09.
Maduka-Durunze, Omen N. .
1983-84 "lgbo ldeophones and the Lexicon." Journal ofthe Linguistic Association ofNigeria
2: 23-29
1991 "Phonosemantic Antecedents of Some Verbs in Igbo," Journal of West African
Languages 21: 105-115 . .-

XVJll
 Introduction

Ndukwe, Pat.
1995 " F. C. Ogbalii and the Standardisation ofIgbo Language." In F. C. Ogbalii and the Igbo
Language ed. A. E. Afigbo. Onitsha, Nigeria: University Publishing Company. pp. 201-213
NEROC.
1991 Quadrilingual Glossary ofLegislative Terms (English-Hausa-Igbo- Yoruba) . ed . Ayo Banjo
et al . Lagos: Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council.
Nnaji,H.L
1985 A Modern English-Igbo Dictionary. Asst. by G. C. Nnaji. Onitsha: Gonaj Books
Nwachukwu, P. Akujuoobi
1981 Towards an Igbo Literary Standard. London: Kegan Paul.
1983a "Towards a Classification of Igbo Verbs". In Readings 011 the Igbo Verb. P. Akujuoobi
Nwachukwu ed. pp. 17-42.
1983b "Inflectional and Non-Inflectional Affixes". In Readings on the Igbo Verb. P. Akujuoobi
Nwachukwu ed. pp. 61-77.
Nwacbukwu, P. Akujuoobi,ed.
1983 Readings on the Igbo Verb. Onitsha, Nigeria: Africana-Fep Publishers.
Ogbalu,F.C.
1962 Okowa Olcwu: Igbo-English/English-Igbo Dictionary. Onitsha, Nigeria: University
Publishing Company.
Ogbalu, F. C., andN. E. Emenanjo,ed.
1975 Igbo Language and Culture. vol. 2. Ibadan, Nigeria: Oxford University Press.
Oji,N.
1983 "Non-Finite Forms of the Verb," In Readings on the Igbo Verb. ed. P. A. Nwachukwu. pp.
79-97.
SPLIC. .
1977 Recommendations ofthe Standardisation Committee ofthe SPILC. vol. 1. 2nd ed. Onitsha:
SPILC
Thomas, Nortbcote W.
1969a Anthropological Report on the Ibo-Speaking Peoples ofNigeria (1913). Pt. 1I: English-Ibo
and Ibo -English Dictionary. New York: Negro Universities Press.
1969b Anthropological Report on the Ibo-Speaking Peoples ofNigeria (1914). Part V Addenda to
Ibo-English Dictionary. New York: Negro Universities Press.
Ubabakwe,Ebo.
1981 Igbo Names: Their Structure and Their Meanings. Nigerian Names, vol. 2. lbadan
[Nigeria]: Daystar Press.
Uwalaka, A. A.
1983 "Some Problems Related to Igbo Verbal Studies". In Readings on the Igbo Verb. ed. P. A.
Nwachukwu, pp. 7-15.
Ward, lda C.
1941 loo Dialects and the Development ofa National Language. Cambridge: Heffner and Sons
Ltd~
Welmers, Beatrice F., and Wm. E. Welmers
1968 Igbo : A Learner's Dictionary. Los Angeles, CA.: AfricanStudies Center.
Williamson, Kay
1972 Igbo-English Dictionary. Based on the Onitsha Dialect. Benin, Nigeria: Ethiope Publishing
Co.
1989 "Benne-Congo Overview". In The Niger-Congo Languages: A Classification and
Description ofAfrica 's Largest Language Family. Ed & Preface by John Bender-Samuel. Asst
ed. Rhonda L. Hartell. pp: 269-336. Lanham: University Press of America.

xix
(

I
I

I
I
 Part I

Igbo-English
A Igbo-English
aba inya /I [LL HL] first hair on baby's head;
baby hair. var. aba nya; aMnii; aponli.
aba ono 11 [LL HH] cheek;jaw. var. agba ntl;
A agba onii.
abaca 11 [HHH] da y-old young chick; grower
chick; sometimes called "uriom" or "uyom".
A ,alph [H) 'First letter of the Igbo alphabet;
abaca 11 [LLL] 'sliced, dried cassava flueS;.-.
-open unrounded front vowel.
tapioca flakes; -salad made from tapioea,
a dem [L] this; this one - nke a = this one'
flakes. var. abaja. ·See "acica" = wafess,
obodo a = this town . ·See "ahii" = that; that
abada n [LLH] wax printed cloth; wax print;
one.
printed cloth.
a pm [H] 11; first person pronoun; 2it - A na-
abadaba ad] [HHHH] broad; flat or wide.
ekwu na = it is said that; J one (used in im-
abadaba n [LLLLJ narrow raffia-and-cotton
personal constructions) - Anaghieji abaliacii
cloth, the material from which men's tradi-
eghu ojii = one doesn't lookfor a black goat
tional pants or loin cloths were made.
~n~t .
abaja /I [LLLJ sliced cassava; tapioca flakes.
a-a excl [H-L] oh!; what!; exclamation of
var. abaca.
surprise.
abaje 11 [HHHJ (loan(?)) barrel.
aba adj [LH] flat; prone - dee ha aba = lav
them flat, - abaka /I [LLH] type of fish.
abakpa n [LLL] (Ioan(?)) market-town;origi-
aba n [HH] 'metal rod, bar or pin; 2forked pole,
nally name for section of lgbo town settled
used to support roofor scaffolding; ·' hook or
by Hausa traders and cattlemen; now found
staple. ·See "oke azu" = pole.
as specific place name for urban areas no
aba 11 [HH] bottle; glass container. ·See also
longer so-settled - Abakpa-Nike = the Hausa
"akarama," ekpem," "irom", and "01010".
quarters at Nike (near Enugu).
aba n [HL] short form of"aba-iceku", a type
abala 11 [HHH] iroko fruit. ·See "ilpo oji"" =
of tree. var. abaceku.
iroko fruit.
aba n [LL] 'branch ofa tree; lroadjunction;
abala 11 [HHLJ fowl meat, especially includ-
Jhouse corner. var. agba.
ing wing or leg. var. abara.
aba 11 [LL] open wound; sore with pus. *See
abala agidi n [LLH HHL] blanket; thick cover
"onya" = wound.
cloth worn to keep off the harmattan. var.
aba 11 [LL] I iron rod or metal bar; 2(sometimes)
abara agidi; abara ngidi; avara.ngidi.
short metal piece used to hold something
together; metal pin; staple. ...
abala ngidi n [LLH HHL] blankercthick
. cover
cloth worn to keep off the harmattan. var.
aba n [LL] house corner.
abara agidi; abala ngidi; aVaTa Dgidi.
aba n [LL] epoch or season; period oftime in
abalaba n [HHHH] food bowl imide of clay.
the past marked by very important events.
abali n [LLL] night; night-time - Abalidiegwu!
var. aba.
= night time is.frightening or mysterious. var.
aba n [LL] (Afikpo) masked spirit or mas-
abani; aoasi.
querade - oke aba = chief (or principal)
abafi n [LLL] climbing rope made from brush-
masquerade.
like plant var. apari.
aba aja n [HH HH] sand. ·See "uzuzu" = fine
abafi isi /I [LLL LL] dead of night; the pitch
sand.
darkness of night. var. abafi ishi .
aba aka n [LH HH] kindred; lineage.
abali-di-egwu " [LLL-L-HL] robbers; under-
aba aka n [LL HH] twig; tree-branch; var. ana
world gangs; whence. robbery - ndi abali-
aka.
di-egwu = men of the criminal underworld
aba ezi n [LH HH] road crossing; intersec-
usually operating by night: hence. robbers:'
tion var. agba iizo.
abali-di-egwu akariala = there's too much
aba iceku n [LL-LHH] leguminous tree, used
robbery.
as a fallow crop; (possibly) velvet tamarind
abam n [HLL] corner; edge.
(Dialum ~ineense).
3
( t a ~ ......._ ....
- ...,UiL•. - .- - •.-..-- - - - -- - - - -

Igbo Dictionary abiia

abana

abana 11 [LLL] water yam, a "bastard" spe- = long basket.

cies of yam. abo 11 [HH] 'box of wicker-work used as a
abani n [LLL] night; night-time. var. abali; coffin; -grave.
aiiasi abd 11 [LH] forest: plantation: wooded area of
abara n [HHL] fowl meat, usually including settlement: now found in place names - Abo
the leg or wing. var. abala. = Aboh. name of a commun ity in Mbaise clan.
abara n [HLL] threadworm. var. avara. aboca [abb oca] n [LHH] calico or similar
abara n [LLL] deep hole in the ground for kind of cloth; cotton cloth: Lit: white sheet
planting yam (in areas of Igboland where of cloth imported (originally) from Aboh.
yam-mounds are not in fashion). abogba idide n [HLL HLL] discarded or
abara agidi n [LLH HHL] blanket; thick cover molted skin of a worm.
cloth worn to keep off the harmattan. var. abokd 11 [HHH] crab: king-crab. var. abiikb,
abala ngidi; abala agidi; avara ngidi abonli n [LLHL] (Uzuakoli) first hair on
abara ngidi n [LLH HHL] blanket; thick cover baby's head: baby hair. var. aba mya; apiinli.
cloth worn to keep off the harmattan. var. aboo num [LHH] two: the number 2 - aboo =
abara agidl; avara ngidi; abala ngidi ova; ha aboo = both ofthem: aboo ezuola =
abazii n [HHL] gale; high winds accompany- two is enough: will do. vat: abiia; abiio.
ing a rain storm. aboo num [LHH] twice: second - ugboro aboo
abd n [HHH] alphabet; "A Be" - giiora m ABD = second time: ite aboo = two pots. var.
= recite the (Igbo) ABC/or me!. ahiia: abuo.
abia 11 [HLL] male person. abosi n [HHL] rear entrance to a house; back
abi n [HL] breed; stock; lineage: seed; gene. door.
)'Gr. abiilii; abiirii. abosi 11 [HLL] 'camwood tree; redwood tree,
abi n [LH] -a variety of yam, light yellow in used as cosmetic dye; -medicinal plant also
colour, with a thick bark; also called "ji Ita". used as chewing-stick for cleaning teeth
var. abi-i (D. l'Otunda). (Bl1phia uuidis:
abia 11 [HLL] 'ritual drum used during certain aboso 11 [LHH] cricket: insect of the grass-
festivals, esp. the New Yam (or Ahiajoku/ hopper family. var. abiizii; aviiyii; aviizii;
Fejioku) festival; -type of music (usually mbisi: mboso.
"ifie") played to the accompaniment of the abii 11 [HH] pus: yellowish discharge from
"abia" drum. *Music played during Fejioku infected wound or boil. var. avii,
festival. abii 11 [HH] cat; 'specifi cally, the bush-cat.
abiba 11 [HHL] 'plumage or feather, especially abii n [HH] 'belly; stomach; abdomen: intes-
of young bird; -hair; down. var. ab'ba. tines; entrails: -womb. var. afo: ahd.
abi'di 11 [HLL] kind of monkey. var . abiidii. abii n [HH] companion; comrade.
abigbo n [LHL] a traditional dance, usually abii 11 [HL] (Onica) hymn: psalm: song of
associated with Mbaise and northern Ngwa joy, especially one associated with religious
areas, and known for its vibrant but cultivated services; the word of choice for the Protes-
rhythms and biting (often indelicate) satiri- tant missions - Ahii oma = [Book of) Psalms;
cal lyrics. ndiabii> singers: musicians; choristers. VG/".
abi"i 11 [LHL] a variety ofyam, light yellow in ebu; avii. * See "ukwe = hymn, the word
colour, with a thick bark; also called "ji ita". favoured by the Catholic missions.
vat: abi. abii 11 [HL] armpit.
abi"i 11 [LHL] coin-currency formerly in use in abii n [LL] stock: breed; kindred. VGr. abiirii.
Igboland. abii 11 [LL] worm.
abirfka 11 [LLLH] roasted plantain. *See also abii ala 11 [HH LL] viper: adder. var. abii ani
"iikpoci" = plantain. abii ani 11 [HH LL] (Onica) viper; adder. var.
abisi 11 [HHL] stinging black ant. va,.. agbisi; abii ala; avu ana.
agbishi abiia 1111111 [LHH] two; the number 2 - abiia =
abb 11 [HH] long, oblong basket. *See "ukpa" two: ha abiia = both of'them: abiia ezuolu =

4
abua Igbo-English ada

two is enough; will do. var. aboo; abuo. ahirTha; aviirivii.

abua num [LHH] twice; second - ugboro abiia abiirii n [HLL] breed; stock; lineage; seed;
= second time; ite abiia = two pots. var. abOo; gene - abiirii iiioo = bad lineage or breed;
abuo. lineage with undesirable character traits.
abuba n [HHL] leaf; palm fibre. var. abiilii.
abuba n [HHL] 'plumage or feather.especially abiizii n [HHL] cricket; mole-cricket.
of young bird; 2hair; down var. abiba. aea 11 [LL] a kind of wooden gong.
ababa n [LLL] body-fat; fatty tissue; fat. var. aea iikii n [LH HH] a kind of magical show;
abtibara. according to Ogbalu, an ancient magical craft
abuba isi n [HHL HH] hair; locks . "of picking things from boiling oil".
abuba ji akpii n [HHL H HH] cassava slices.
var. abiibaji akwii. *See "abaca" = tapioca. aeala n [LLL] 'bamboo; giant grass; 2fish-trap
abiibanti 11 [HHHLL] cheekbone.jawbone, made from bamboo stakes. var. aeara.
abiibara n [LLLL] body-fat; fatty tissue; fat acanii n [LLL] blue bead.
var. abuba. aeara n [LLL] (Owere) fish-trap made from
abiibo n [HHH] egg yolk ; yolk; yellow inner bamboo.
part of an egg. var. abubu. aeara n [LLL] 'bamboo; giant-grass; 2ta11
abo.bo n [HHH] mashed yam. edible grass used (esp. in Umuahia area) in
abo.bo n [HLH] cooked vegetable dish . the preparation of soup. var. aeala.
abo.bii n [HHH] egg yolk ; yolk; yellow inner aeara ugo n [LLL LL] beautiful woman of
part of an egg. var. abiibo. stately carriage, robust like the prime young
abo.bo. n [HHH] abstinence; deliberate act of shoot of the ra~a-palm.
refraining from doing something in obedi- ad n [HH] 'pelvis; hip-joint; head of thigh-
ence to an injunction whether or not self-im- bone ; femur ; 2linesofthread worn by women
posed around the hip as ornament var. aciTi.
abubii n [HHL] I dry waste fibre ofchafffrom ad n [HH] pineapple. var. aeoo.
palm nut; dried fibrous remains of palm ael 11 [HH] rabbit -hole.
bunch that did not thrive; 2rag. ael n [HH] 'species of sasswood, also known
abiidii n [HLL] variety ofmonkey. var. abidi. as pink mahogany; -the seed ofthe "aci" tree,
abugho n [LHL] maiden; woman in her late used in making soup (Gossweilerdendron
teens or early 20's. var. agboghO; agbo.gho. balsamiten/m).
abo.ke n [HLH] chicken used for sacrifice; ael It [LL] haemorrhoids; piles.
shabby chicken not likely to survive, anyway. aclca n [LLL] (Onica) 'dried, sliced plantain;
abiiko n [LHH] crab; king-crab. var. aboko. dried yam haulm; 2w heat or corn bread; bis-
abiilii 11 [LLL] breed; stock; lineage; seed; gene cuit ; wafer ; more specifically, communion
- abiilii ojM = bad lineage or breed; lineage bread ; Jfoofoo from cooked, dried and pre-
with undesirable character traits. var. served cocoyam, to be eaten with beans, etc.
abiirii. during lean planting season, especially in Udi
abiilii akwo n [HLL] palm-fruit fibre; chaff area .
of the palm fruit dried after extraction ofoil. acica mbadamba n [LLL HHHHH] wafers;
*See "abiinbu" = chaff of palm-fruit. Lit: flat and wide yam flakes . *Usedto trans-
aboo 11 [LHH] two ; the number 2 - abiio = late "wafers" in Lev. 2.
Two; ha abilo = both ofthem ; abiioezuola = aeiTi n [HHH] head ofthigh-bone; femur; hip-
t\l'O is enough; will do. var. aboo; abiia. joint or pelvis . var. ad.
abiio Illlm [LHH] twice; second - ugboro abiio acill 11 [LLL] a variety of water yam.
= second time; ite ahiio = two pots. var. abOO; aeiri iba n [HHH HH] abscess.
abiio. acita n [LLL] chin .
abiio num [LHH] two; the number 2. aeoo n [HHH] pineapple. var . aci.
abiiribii n [HLLL] palm fruit fibre; fibre of ada ad) [HH] many .
the palm fruit dried after extraction ofoiL var. ada 11 [HH] fall; collapse; slip - odi okUko Itwe

5
 . _ - ~- - -

ada Igbo Dictionary afO

ada = it's 1I0t the chicken but the person adudu /1 [HLL] (Owere) insinuation.
chasing it about that gets to fall: Lit: the adudii /1 [HLL] iron tong used to pick up hot
chicken chaser owns thefall. objects from cooking po t.
ada n [HL) beetle whose larvae develop in afa /1 [HH] 'd ivination; consultation with dei-
dung which it is forever ferrying. ties regarding past or future events byvthrow-
ada /1 [LH) 'firstdaughterofa family ; daughter; ing and "reading" cowries. animal teeth.
female child; 2tenn ofendearment or courtesy coins. etc . as dice - g baa ala = foretell the
for a young woman., future: perform a divination; "oracle.
ada ani n [HHL] (Oguta) dust; earth; sand. afa n [HH] edible fruit : garden egg ; var: afiifa.
var. aja. "Short form of "a fii fa".
ada ani n [HH LL) room. afa n [HL] 'name; given name - ala obodo ==
ada us hi n [HL HL] (West Igbo) 'dung-bee- to wn 's name: baa afa = christen: name; 2pa_
tie; Lit: stinking beetle; 2dwarf; person of triarchal name; lineage: family line - ala III
extremely short stature. var. adakada . efuna = may my nam e never never be lost ;
ada uno n [LH HL] (Onica) oldestvnwa-ada", i.e. may 111)' family line continue through
or woman born into a kindred; usually a children; 'reputation; good name -mebie ora
married woman ofthe kindred. var. ada iilo . mmadii = defame somebody: ruin some-
*See "nwa ada" = woman married in her own body's reputation. var. aha.
kindred. afa n [LL] hair: beard - afa oni! = heard;
adaa adv [HHH] (Onica) never - Adaa eh moustache: Lit: hair around the mouth.
awo eli = One never eats toad; Toads are afa onu n [LL HH) (Onica) beard: moustache.
never eaten . var. adaghi; anaa; anaghi. 1'(/1'. aha onii; ava onu .
*short for "Adaghi .." = One doesn't ever afata n [HHH] kind of fruit .
are n [LL] cloth; dress; garment var. efe.
adaka n [HHH] variety of yam . afe isi 11 [LL HH) head-dress : Lit: cloth for the
adaka 11 [HHH) mole or dark mark, e.g . in the head. var. efe isi . *Sec "ogodo isi" == head
palm or hand . dress.
adaka 11 [HHH] a shortish rifle or gun; gun afere 11 [HHH] dish; plate; serving plate;
with sawed-offbarrel. *named after "adaka" modem crockery. \'Or. efere; afele.
= dwarfish person; baboon. afi azii n [HH HL) gill: organ used by fish for
adaka n [LHH] ape ; baboon; chimpanzee. breathing.
·See also "ozo" = gorilla. afia 11 [HHH] (Onica) 'market - uno afia =
adaka n [LHL] beetle; dung-beetle. var. shop: store; 2trade; business; commercial
adakada; ada usbi. activity - afia mmanii = oil trade; afia ajoka
adakada n [HLHL] I dung beetle; 2small crab . == business (trade) is quite bad. var. ahia.
adani 11 [HHH] small basket with fine eyes. afia 11 [HHH] loom; instrument for weaving
used for sifting, e.g. stone from rice. cloth.
adidi 11 [LLL] young female of birds; young afia iwu 11 [HHH HH) 'contraband; goods
hen; pullet - adidi okiiko = pullet, or young prohibited by law; "trade in banned or pro-
hell. hibited goods. var. ahia iwu.
adiele n [HHLH) 'mate; comrade; compan- aria olii 11 [HHH HH] festivities, held on a
ion; a person, often of about the same age , designated market day, to mark the "iwa-ji"
who is a companion and associate or com- harvest festival: market-day set aside in hon-
rade in any number of undertakings; a close our of farmwork.
friend and associate; 2father's name ofaffec- afifia 11 [HHHH) grass ; green leaf.
tion for a son; hence, father's companion. afifia 11 [HHHH) antelope (Sittltun~a).
adiko 11 [LLH] severe headache; migraine. arn 11 [HH] a variety of fresh water fish.
ado /1 [HL) species ofyam that grows on climb- arn 11 [HH] I belly; stomach; abdomen; entrails;
ing stems; sometimes called the "air yam" intestines; also womb - ara ukwu == pot-belly;
(Dioscoria spp.). afo anii = entrails ora slaughtered animal;

6
afO Igbo-English agadagba

'womb - nwa afo ya = a child other ....·omb; afiifii n [HHH] 'pain; suffering; tribulation;
afi) ime = pregnancy; -'condition affecting the 'punishment.
stomach - afo na-agba ya = he has a afiifii 11 [HHH] type of maggot or caterpillar
running stomach. var. ahd; abii. that feeds-on fruit. "See "ot(' = beetle.
afO n [HH] tube; tyre; any inner tubing made afiifii 11 [HLL] swollen and hardened scar.
from rubber or similar material- afo moto = afiilii 11 [LLL] bullet; iron shots for a dane gun.
1II0tortyres; afO taya = tyre tube. * A mean- amlii iizii 11 [HHH HL] metal shavings from
ing derived by analogy with "afo" = stom- iron-work; the sparks that rise from the anvil
ach, intestines. during metal work: also slag. smelt-waste.
afO n [HL] year., vat: afOlo iizii.
AfO n [LL] I third day of the 4-day Igbo week; afiirii arii 11 [HLH HH] fart; gas or wind
'market that holds on AfO day; 'personal emitted from the anus.
name. var. ahd. *Afo ukwu = main Afo mar- aga 11 [HH] needle; metal trap; threading nee-
ket/day; AfO nta = minor AfO market/day. dle. *cf. "agiu" = needle.
afO ime n [HH HH] pregnancy - 0 bu afo ime aga n [HH] thorny twining plant. *See "uke"
= she is pregnant; Lit: she is carrying a preg- = medicinal plant.
nancy. aga n [HH] (West Igbo) cup.
afO nta 11 [HH HL] small intestines; entrails. aga n [LL] la childless (unmarried") woman
afO obata n [HH LLL] (Onica) dysentery; of advanced years; a sterile or infertile
inflammation of the bowels followed by se- woman; sometimes a post-menopausal
vere diarrhoea. var. afO obara. woman - aga eji di. eji mm = the barren
afO obara n [HH LLL] (Owere) dysentery; woman has neither husband nor child; 'in-
severe diarrhoea. var. afOobala. fertility; barrenness. *cf. Yor: "agan" = bar-
afO oki"ka 11 [HH LLL] constipation; harden- ren woman.
ing of stool leading to difficulty in evacua- aga n [LL] fishing gear. including spear and
tion. net - aga azii = fishing spear: Littfish needle.
afOoma n [HH HH] goodwill or favour; kind- aga azii 11 [HH HL] fishing spear; Lit: fish
ness - Ilwee afii oma ebe m no = have good- needle.
will towards me. agaji 11 [LL H] high-yielding white yam. *See
afO ukwu n [HH HH] swollen stomach; dis- "ji aga" = variety of yam.
ease of the stomach. aga ngwii n [HH LL] crocodile; kind ofcroco-
afO iikwii n [HH HH] heel; the back of the dile.
foot. *See "ikili" = heel. aga nkwo n [LL HH] short-winged bird of
afOlO 11 [HHH] shavings from iron-monger- prey of the hawk family; kite.
ing. *See "afolo uzii" = iron shavings. agaba n [HHH] I razor blade; blade; 'sharp two-
afOlo iizii n [HHH HL] metal shavings from sided narrow knife used as surgical knife;
iron-work; the sparks that rise from the anvil lancet. var. agiiba; agoba.
during metal work; also slag, smelt-waste. agaba 11 [HHH] masquerade with the fierce
var. amlii iizii. aspect ofa lion ("agaba") from which it takes
am dem [HL] that; that very one. var. ahii. its name.
*Sometimes shortened to "a", as in "Ndi a" agaba n [HHH] a prickly plant.
= "Ndi am". agada 11 [HHH] sword with bent or curved
am n [HL] fart; gas or wind emitted from the end.
anus. var. abii. agada n [HHH] a kind offrog.
am n [HL] (loan) half, as in "half-penny." agada n [LLH] folding easy-chair.
*Full form is "afii peni", agada n [LLH] shrimp.
am onii n [LL.HH] * See "afa onii", agadaga adj [HHHH] huge; large.
amfa n [LHH] edible fruit from the "ofe" plant, agadagba n [HHHL] (Ohaozara) men's un-
smaller than the garden egg; used in prepar- derpants, woven from a mix ofcotton, grass
ing salads and other delicacies. and tree-bark, also called "nwa Igba" or

7
agadi Igbo Dictionary ago nkwo

"igba". *See "igba", var. agidi; agili; agi'ri.

agadi n [HHH] old person; a person of ad- agiri n [HHH] hair-agii'i"isi= hairofthehead:
vanced years - agadi nwoke na agadi nwanyi' lock.
= all old mall and an old woman. agiri 11 [LLL] 'iron ball used as shot; bullet;
agadigba 11 [HHHL] hard-dried cod-fish. lead or iron pellet; bird-shot; 'ball-bearing.
agafu n [LLL] burglar; thief. var. agidi; agiTi; agi'ni.
agala isi 11 [HHH HH] hair; hair on the head. agi'riga 11 [LHLH] (Owere) kindofspear. IW.
var. agara isi; agili isi. agiliga.
agalaba 11 [HLLL] 'tree branch; forked branch agirigada 11 [HHHHH] wry person; person
of trees; 2cross road, or road junction; 'sec- with dry. mocking humour.
tion or division of organisation, society or agogo n [HHH] (loant'Z)) metal gong.
other large group. var. ngalaba. ago n [HH] kind of spoon.
agalama 11 [LLLL] ripe. dry kola-nut. ago n [HH] outright denial; disclaimer; the
agalama n [LLLL] an animal said to be para- formal act of disassociating oneself from a
lysed by light. charge - goo agi) = deny. *See "agiigo" =
agale 11 [LHL] (West Igbo) animal fur. denial.
agam 11 [LLL] spear used in fishing. ago n [HH] herbal potion.
agam-evu 11 [HLH-LL] fancynameforakindof agoba 11 [HHH] I razor blade: blade; 2sharp two-
maggot with a particularly offensive odour; sided narrow knife used as surgical knife or
Lit: I won't carry (touch) it. lancet. var. agaba; aguba.
agama 11 [LLL] clitoris; small upper end ofa agofii n [HHL] liar; a person with a reputation
woman's genitalia. for never telling the truth.
Agana n [LLL] a title among the Osomarl agolo n [HHH] sticky sap of tree. or similar
people, taken by persons of considerable substance, used to trap birds; bird-line.
wealth. agolO 11 [HHH] species of fish.
agangwu 11 [HHLL] crocodile; kind ofcroco- agolO n [LLL] a kind of plant. var. agolii.
dile. ago ad} [HH] huge; powerful; Ut: tiger-sized;
agara isi 11 [LLL HH] hair; hair on the head. tiger-like in power.
var. agala isi. ago n [HH] farm,
agene n [I.,LL] (West Igbo) bamboo mat. ago 11 [HH] hawk; kite.
agidi 11 [LHH] cream of corn; blancmange ago 11 [HH] tiger; leopard; (inaccurately) chee-
made from guinea-corn. tah. *Often also used to mean "cheetah" and
agidi n [LLL] 'bullet; iron or lead pellet used "leopard".
as shot; birdshot; 'ball~bearing. var. agili; ago 11 [HL] 'namesake; one who shares same
agini; agiri. name. and (in some cases) the same guard-
agiga 11 [HHH] needle (threading); skewer; ian spirit from the spirit world. as another;
spike. rar. aga. 'spirit double; parallel incarnations of the
agiga 11 [HLL] corner; edge - nokeghe 11 'agi'ga same being; 'spirit of mischief; prankster
iilo = move over to the side (or corner) of spirit. *See ·'gi.io aha' = christen; cf. Egyptian
the house. var. aguga. "ka" (Yor: "Esu") = "spirit double".
agili 11 [LLL] 'iron ball used as shot; bullet; ago aba 11 [HH HH] lion. *See "agaba" = lion.
lead or iron pellet; bird-shot; 2ball-bearing. agu aba 11 [HH HL] razor blade; blade; sharp
var. agidi'; agini; agiri. two-sided narrow knife used as surgical knife
agili isi 11 [LLL HH] hair of the head; locks. or lancet. var. agiiba; agoba.
agili'ga n [HHHH] tattered basket; faggots; agii isi 11 [HH HH] disease of skin; scalp
thatch. infection.
agiTiga 11 [HLHH] (Onica) spear. var. agiriga. ago iyi n [HH HH] crocodile; large.
agi'ni 11 [LLL] kind of mat. amphibious. tropical reptile with thick scales;
agi'ni 11 [LLL] 'iron ball used as shot; bullet; Lit: river tiger.
lead or iron pellet; bird-shot; 2ball-bearing. ago nkwo 11 [HH HH] falcon; hawk; kite. var.

8
agii iino Igbo-English agba iizo

agli nkwii. agba 11 [LL] (West lgbo) indigence-daaagba

agii iino n [HH HL] gecko; house. or do- = become indigent: fall into indigence.
mestic lizard; also called wall-gecko agba 11 [LL] paint ;colour-agballhie= brown
(pfJOodacn'!us ~ecko) . (earth) colour.
agliba n [HHH] 'razorblade; blade; :sharp two- agba 11 [LL] rheumatism.joint swelling. *See
sided narrow knife used as surgical knife or "eguru",
lancet var. agaba; agoba. *properly, "agii agba n [LL] chapter.
aba". agba n [LL] fat.
agiiga 11 [HLL] corner; edge - nokeghe agba n [LL] epoch or season; period of time
11 'agiiga iifo = move over to the side (or cor- in the past marked by very important events.
ner) ofthe house. var. agiga. var. aba. *cf Yor: "igba or "ugba" = time .
agligo .n [HLH] . outright denial; disclaimer; agba n [LL] palm kernel.
the formal act ofdisassociating oneselffrom agba ahii n [HH HH] penis; male sexual or-
a charge - goo ago = deny. *See "ago" = gan.
denial. agba ahii n [HH HH] 'colour of the skin;
agiigo n [LLL] argument; objection; conten- complexion; -blotch or blemish on the skin.
tiousness; disputation - sie agiigo = challenge agba ala n [HH LL] cosmetic body marks cut
an opinion; contest an argument; adamantly around breasts or across stomach; scarifica-
hold-oil to an opposing opinion. tions on the body.
agiigii n [HHH] 'count; the act of counting - agba ala n [LH LL] lowerjaw. var. agba ani.
agiigii on;; = head count; census; 2reckoner agbaamimi n [HH LLL] (West Igbo) kind of
or counter. basket. var. iigbo amimi.
agilii n [HHH] 'hunger; starvation; 2desire. agba ani n [LH LL] lowerjaw. var. agba ala.
var. agiirii; agiiii. agba anya n [LL HH] eye-lid. VOl'. iku anya.
agiilU n [HHH] kind of plant. agba avii n [LH HL] armpit. VO l' . avii .
agiilU n [HHHlLLL] bush-cat. agba eli n [LL HH] upper jaw. var. agba elu;
agiilii n [HLH] thin oil. agba enu.
agiilii aro n [HHH HL] any disease that ap- agba elu n [LL HH] upper jaw. var. agba eli ;
pears to return to its victim every year; Lit: agba enu,
[disease] that counts a year [and returns]. agba enu n [HH HH] upland; sub-fertile farm-
*See "Ogbu n'orie" = disease that flares up land. ·See "igbo" and "ani' oca",
every four days. agbaenu 11 [LLHH] upperjaw. var. agbaelu;
agiirii n [HHH] 'hunger; starvation; 2desire. agbaeli.
VOl'. agiilii; agiiii. agba igwe n [HH HH] cloud; patches (lit:
agiiii n [HHH] 'hunger; starvation; 2desire. VOl'. blemishes) in the sky.
agiilii; agiirii. agba ilu 11 [HH HH] bitter kolanut; crunchy
agba 11 [HH] whip. bitter nut, often served with. or as a substi-
agba n [HH] species of hardwood tree. tute for kolanut. var. akii ilu . ·See "ugugolo"
agba n [HH] totem in the shape of a pillar; a = bitter kola .
phallus symbol. agba mmiri 11 [LL HHH] blister; skin condi-
agba n [LL] 'appointment; schedule; tryst - tion caused by burn.
yie agba = fix an appointment; set a date; agba na uce 11 [LL L HL] anxiety ; worry; Lit:
2contract; covenant; pledge - Agba ode = Old appointments and much thought.
Testament; kwee agba = enter into a contract agba nti 11 [LL HH] cheek;jaw. var. aba ono;
or covenant; make a solemn pledge. agba onii .
agba 11 [LL] chin; jaw. var. aba. agba oruma 11 [LH LLL] bone disease.
agba n [LL] skin disease; leucoderma. agba osisi 11 [LL HHH] whip; twig used as
agba 11 [LL] branch; fork of road - agba iizo whip. var. agba. *See ';agbala aja" = whip.
= point where road branches out in several agba iizo 11 [LH HH] road crossing; intersec-
directions. tion. var. aba ezi.

9
 agbaa anii Igbo Dictionary agbo

agbaa anii /I [LL HH] idiot; stubborn per son . ried woman . usuall y with man y children; a
agbada 11 [HHH] flat fryin g pot. woman of power. "Shortened as "agbala" ,
agbada Il [HHH] two-edged carving knife . agbalagada /I [HHHHH] (Onica) thunder.
agbada /I [HHH] barn; outdoor storehouse for agbale 1/ [LLLL] (West Igbo) special cloth
farm and garden produce. worn by women in their first pregnancy.
agbadi 11 (1oan('.')) kind of a dance. *Also called "ipeteri" = fertility cloth.
agbadi 11 [HLL] (loan('.')) thick.low-quality oil. agbalumo 1/ kind of herb used in the rituals
agbagadii adj [HHHH] large and crooked - associated with "Ogbanje" (ChITSO()hl'f1/1n1
agbagadii mpi = large and crooked hams albidlllll ).
(e.g. ofram ). agbara /I [HLL] demon : evil spirit. var.
agbagba nti 11 [HHH LL] cheek; cheek bone. agbala.
agbagha n [LLL] animal skin or hide; leather. agbara 1/ [HLL] kind of bean with sharp
agbagha iikwii Il [LLL HH] sandal; shoe; Lit : prickly hair.
leather covering for the foot. agbara agba 1/ [LLL LH] pottage, made of
Agbagwii Il [HHL] 'fortnightly market at shelled breadfruit seeds and cooked in a sauce
Uzuakoli, reputed to be the largest slave of peppers and dried fish .
market in the Bende area of Igboland - na agbara agba 11 [LLL LH] loose-fitting tailored.
mgbe mbii. obii Btanko bii og e ukwu karia mostly women' s. dress. often touching the
Agbagwu = at first. Bianco was a larger ankles.
market than Agbagwii t Omeniiko t ; !a agbara am 11 [HHH HHH] cake made from
monthly market-day festival in the Uzuakoli? ground and spiced melon seed. wrapped with
Mbaano/Etiti area market by lavish entertain- leaves in sm all pellets. and steamed till done.
ment for in-laws. and other visiting guests; it *See "nwa nru" = melon seed.
has no links with the slave market. *Actually, agbasa /I [LLH] (Onica) left-over food .
"agba agwii", so-named after the mighty agbata 11 [LLL] border: boundary ; neighbour-
"agba" tree on the site. consecrated to the hood - agbata ohi = neighbour. one whose
powerful deity, Agwi.i. "obi " or main house. is next-door; a st one
agbala n [HHH] hairy seed. throwaway.
agbala 11 [HLL] (Onica) generic name for a agbata ekwu n [LLL HH] health . *See "ekwu"
spirit or deity; spirit; demon-deity. va r. = hearth .
agbara. agbata obi 11 [LLL HL] neighbour.
Agbala 11 [HLL] (Onica) name of an oracle agbata iikwii 11 [LLL HH] groin: Lit: the space
dedicated to the Agbala deity, a ruthless and between the legs .
unforgiving deity, often associated with both agbe n [LL] calabash ; gourd. var. agbele.
Awka and Nri. agbele 11 [LLL] calabash or gourd; float. var.
agbala 11 [LLL] (Onica) four-cornered seat, agbe.
or chair. agbidi 11 [HLL] box; container.
agbala 11 [LLL] 'community; 2hall used for agbirigba n [HHHH] small pod-bearing grass.
communal meetings by either men or agbishi n [HHL] stinging black ant. var. abisi;
women. agbisi.
agbala 11 [LLL] (Onica) 'adult man who has agb'isi 11 [HHL] stinging black ant. var. abisi;
not taken any title; 2a woman ofpower; hence. agbishi.
a he-woman; a "strong". well-to-do. married agbo n [HH] 'v om it: sickness; :disgust. var.
woman. usually with many children - Agbala agboo; agbii .
di Jla ejelii ozi = well-to-do woman with a agbo 11 [HH] cord : rope tor climbing: var. agbii.
husbandfor errand boy. agbd 11 [HH] palaver; tangle; minor quarrel.
agbaJa aja 11 [HLH HH] whip. var. agba. *See agbo 11 [HH] cloth used as cover or spread over
"agba osisi" = whip. something: blanket: sometimes, table cloth.
agbala nwanyi n [LLLHL] well-to-do, mar- agbo n [HH] fore st.

10
agbo Igbo-English agwa etiti

agbo n [LL] calabash; gourd from which cala- agha n [HH] (Onica) battle ; war. var. aba;
bashes are carved. aya.
agbo 11 [LL] breed; seed or gene; stock ; ge- agha 11 [HL] instrument used in weaving; spin-
netic trait; genetic characteristic - ezigbo agbo dle.
Ilwanyi! ajo agbii eghu = womanfrom a good aghaa 11 [LHH] manner; condition - 0 di
(breeding) stock; bad goat stock. aghaa? = in what condition is he? how is he?
agbogho 11 [LHL] maiden; woman usually in I'a,.. aoaa.
her late teens or early 20's. var. abiigho; aghala 11 [LHH] wastrel: rascal; good-for-
agbiigho; agboghii-obia. nothing person ; vagabond; neer-do-well.
agbijgho mmiid n [LHH LHH] mermaid; spirit VOl'. aghara .
maiden. aghara 1/ [LHH] confusion; disorder; pande-
agbogho obia n [LHH HLL] maiden; young monium. va,.. aghala.
woman. var. abiigho; agboghO; agbiigho. aghara 11 [LLL] wastrel; rascal; good-for-
agbokili n [HHHH] armlet. nothing person; vagabond; neer-do-well.
agboli n [HHL] impotence. var. agboni. va,.. aghala.
agbolo n [HHH] echo. agbara aghara adv [LHH LHH] randomly;
agbolO n [LLL] species ofmango, used as soup indiscriminately.
thickener. mr. agbono (Irvillgia gabol1ell- aghirigha n [HHHH] 'crumbs; pieces; 2husks
sis). . ofpalm fruit left after nuts are extracted.
agbologada 11 [HHHHH] molar ; back teeth aghiri"igha 1/ [LLHL} confusion; rascality.
used in grinding. va,.. agbiiliigam. agho 11 [HH] iguana; monitor. var. aghii.
agbon'i n .[HHL] impotence. var. agboli. agho 11 [HH] rancidity; staleness; rancid taste ,
agbono n [LLL] species of mango, used as e.g. that of food left overnight; SOUT. *cf.
soup thickener. var. agbolo (lrvingia 'labo- "uka": "ola"; "ura" = sourness, staleness.
osusis). agho n [HL] cunning: craftiness: deceit; trick-
agboo 11 [HHH] vomit. ery - gllijo agllii = p lay tri cks or pranks;
agbii n [HH] 'rope worn around the waist and deceive through cu nning. \ '0 1'. aghiigho .
wound round the ankles when climbing; agho ufu 11 [LH LL] bribe; bribery ; ea y or
2cord; rope used as fetters. var. agbo. improper profit from a deal. VOl'. aghii ufu ,
agbii n [HH] sore with pus. aghii 11 [HH] iguana ; monitor. crocodile. mr.
agbii n [HL] 'vomit; sickness; 2disgust. VOl'. aghO.
agbO; agboo. aghii ufu 11 [LH LL] bribe; bribery; easy or
agbii n [HL] gum of tooth. improper profit from a deal. I'Qr . agho ufu .
agbiigba 11 [LLL] 'plate, basin or other con- aghiighii n [HLL] cunning: deceit: trickery;
tainer made from light metal (often iron) and fraud; craftiness - ghiio aghiigho = play 'rich
used in the kitchen and elsewhere; 2zinc roof- or pranks: deceive through cunning.
ing sheet; metal roofing: var. iigbiigba. agwa 11 [HH] shade: area under shade.
agbiigba n [LLL] conspiracy; treachery. agwa 11 [HH] fever, with loss ofappetite: !state
agbiigbo n [HHH] dust-bin; refuse dump; of mental depression or anxiety.
dump yard. agwa 11 [HL] 'eczema; leucoderma: skin-dis-
agbiigbo n [LHL] bark.hardskin, var. mbiibo; ease: !measles. \'al'. iigwa : iigwo .
mgbiigbo. agwa 11 [LL] beans: black-eyed beans.
agbiigho n [LHL] maiden; woman usually in agwa n [LL] kind; sort.
her late teens or early 20's. var. agbOgho; agwa n [LL] 'character; manners; temper;
agbogho obia; agbogho. conduct - agml iiil1a = good behaviour; ex-
agbiiliigam n [HHHHH] (Oka) molar; back emplary character; -habit.
teeth used in grinding. var. agbOlogada. agwa agwa 11 [LH LL) spotted: pied; parti-
agbiirii n [HHH] (Bende) cassava flour. var. coloured; having a patchwork of colours.
akpii. agwa etiti 11 [LL LHL) island - ruo agba etiti
agbiirii n [LLL] kindred; lineage; gene stock. 111a = reached u small island (Acts 27: 16) .

JI
 agwata Igbo Dictionary aho

agwata n [HHH] bush-cat. child after divination, showing the god or

agwi n [HL] kind of hoe. var. agwu . other agency involved in its birth; e.g. Nwa-
agwo 11 [HH] generic name for snake; serpent. agwii; Nwa-cukwu: Nwa-amadi = son of
agwo n [HH] 'raffia; raffia-fibre; 2head-pad Agwii, Cukwu, or Amadi. *Also known as
made from raffia. var. ngwo (Raphja "aha ci" = name of destiny.
vjnifera). '. ahaba n [LHH] velvet tamarind, a leguminous
agwo eghu n [HH HH LLL] black cobra, a very tree, used mainly as fallow crop to restore soil
poisonous snake; Lit: the goat-snake. var. fertility (Acit/a bate";: Dialium f:llilleense).
eghu anya obara; agwo ewu (Naja mela- *Known in some areas as "iceku" or
nolellca Hq/D. *See "ubi" and "agwo anya "ohambe",
obara". ahara oca n [HHH HH] large white variety of
agwo ewu n [HH HH LLL] black cobra, a very crayfish.
poisonous snake; Lit: the goat-snake. var. ahiara n [HHHH] giant leaf grass .
eghu anya obara; agwo eghu (Nqja mela- ahHgba n [LHHL] osimon plant.
lIoleuca HalD. *See "ubi" and "agwo anya ahia 11 [HHH] 'market - iilo ahia = shop ; store;
obara", 2trade; business: commercial activity - ahia
agwo nkwii n [HH HH] centipede; sometimes, mmanii = oil trade; ahia ajoka = business
millipede. (trade) is bad. var. afia,
agwo iilo 11 [HH HL] gecko; wall-gecko; liz- "hia iwu 17 [HHH LH] 'contraband; goods
ard usually found around the house . prohibited by law; 2trade in banned or pro-
agwii 11 [HL] carved representation ofa deity; hibited goods. var. aCia iwu.
fetish; idol; totem. ahia ogwe 17 [HHH HL] evening market;
Agwii 11 [HL] a deity; god of madness. market that does not begin until late after-
agwu 11 [HL] (West Igbo) kind of hoe. vor. noon.
agwi. Ahiajokii 11 [LLLHH] 'Yarn god; 2NewYam
agwii nkwo 11 [HH HH] kite. Festival; an annual harvest festival marking
agwo Bsi 11 [HL LL] god of evil (poison); the formal harvest of the new yam , and pay-
patron spirit of quacks and fortune. tellers. ing tribute to the Yam god. I'W' lfejioku;
"Fortune-tellers had to have an "agwu-isi"; Fejioku.
even if they did no evil. ahiara 11 [HHHH] 'name ofa market; Lit: mad
agwugwa n [HLH] a riddling game; riddle or people 's market; i.e. market with an unusu-
conundrum. var. gwam-gwa gwam. ally high number of people with mental prob-
aha 11 [HH] (Arocukwu) war; battle. var. agha; lems; -name of a community; place name -
aya. Ahiara = community ill Mbaise .
aha 11 [HL] name ; given name - aha obodo = ahihla Il [HHHH] leaf: grass: weed.
town's name; goo aha = christen; name - ahihla ofe n [HH] leafofthe "ofe" plant, used
reputation; good name ; Jlineage; family line; in soups and other foods: the plant produces
people who go by the same patriarchal name the "afufa" fruit. a small. delicious relation
- aha m efula = may my never never be lost; of the garden egg. var ofe.
i.e. may my family line continue through ahihi'ara 11 [HHHH] wild okra, a long-fruited
children. var. aCa. jute plant. var. ahtihara (C. olitorius ). *Same
aha ci n (HH L] a sacred name given a child as Yoruba "oyo" = wild okra.
after divination, showing the god or other ah ihi'ara 11 [HLHHH] edible fern with highly
agency involved in its birth; e.g. Nwa-agwu; viscous sap.
Nwa-cukwu; Nwa-amadi = son of Agwu , ahiri 11 [HHH] column ; line; row; queue.
Cukwu, or Amadi. *Also known as "aha ahiri' 11 [HLL] fart: gas - nviio aMi/lli = fart;
iiwa" = earthly name. pass gas or wind from the ( II/ /lS. var. ahiirti.
aha onu 11 [LL HH] (Owere) beard; mous- ahi'riha 11 [HHHH] chaff from dried fibre of
tache. var. aCa ono; ava onu. palm fruit. var. aburibu: aviiri'vti .
aha iiwa 11 [HL LL] a sacred name given a aho 11 [HH] (Enugu) 'belly; stomach; intes-

12
aho Igbo-English ajirija

tine; stomach; 'womb: va,.. am; abii. aja ana 11 [HH LL] earth shrine. var. aja-ani;
aho 11 [HL] year. var. am ; arb, aja-ala.
Abo n [LL] (Afikpo) 'third day of the 4-da y aja ani 1/ [HH LL] (West Igbo) male cricket.
Igbo week; ' market that holds on AfO day. aja uke 1/ [LL LL] sacrifice to ward offfuture
var . Am. disaster by keep ing evil spirits at bay . *See
ahii dem [HL] that; that very one - onye ahii " uke" = hard ship .
= that ve,:v person. var. afii . *Sometimes ajaba /l [HHH] (Afikpo) area reserved for
shortened to "a", as in "Ndi'a" = "Ndi ahu ". principal actors in a masquerade for storing
ahii n [HH] (Bende) melon; climbing plant equipment and changing costumes; tiring
that produces flat-bodied edible seeds. area .
ahii n [HH] hair or body air. var. ashi. ajadu 1/ [LLL] (West lgbo) 'widow. especially
ahii n [HL) fart; gas or wind emitted from the if widowed in her youth: young widow ; 2a
anus . var. arii. young widow who does not elect to be inher-
ahii n [LH] body; body surface or skin ; flesh. ited. or to have a steady lover , but instead
var. arii; esbu. accepts men as sex partners as she pleases;
ahii ekere n [LH HHH] groundnut; peanut. ( In an extended sense) harlot.
ahii ike n [LH HH) good health ; health or well- ajadu 11 [LLL] (Onica) widower; Also ajadu
being. nwoke
ahii nwanyi 11 [LH LL] vagina; private part s ajaghija 11 [HHHH] ceremony (especially in
of a woman's anatomy. Oka) whereby prospective title takers are
ahii okii 11 [LH HH] fever; high body tem- presented to current title holders ; perform-
perature associated with illness; Lit: hot (or ance ofthis ceremony is a mini-title in itself.
warm) body. var. arii okii. ajakpa 11 [HLH] woman with pronounced
ahii onii n [LL HH] beard; moustache; Lit: masculine features .
mouth hair. ajali 11 [HHH] 'rust: 'red earth. var. ajara;
abiihara 11 [HHHH] wild okra, a long-fruited ajari.
jute plant var. ahihiara (c. olitorius). *Same ajara n [HHH] I rust - tua a/am = become rusty;
as Yoruba "oyo" = wild okra. 2 red earth. var. ajali; ajari.

ahiihii n [HHH] pain; punishment; suffering. ajari 11 [HHH] 'rust; 2red earth. rar. ajara;
var. afiifii. ajali.
ahiihii 11 [HHH] insect; maggot; ant var. ajata 11 [HHH] fly-whisk .
ehuhu;esusu;ariirii. ajl 11 [HH] hair, excluding human body hair;
abiibii 11 [HLL] fart; gas - nyuo ahiihii = fart; animal hair; fur.
pass gas or windfrom the anus. var. ahiirii . ajl 11 [HH] part of a carcass.
abiirii 11 [HLL] fart; gas or wind from the anus. aji 11 [HL] tree with malleable bark which can
var. ahiirii. be turned into wool-like strings.
aja n [HH] I earth, and its various loose forms : ajl agba 11 [HH LL] beard ; Lit: hair ofthe chin!
sand, soil, dust, and mud; but excluding such Jaw.
solid forms as gravel, stone or rock ; 2wall; ajl anii n [HH HH] wool; Lit: animal hair .
earthen wall. vat". iiza; ada ani. aji iku 11 [HH LL] eye lash ; hair lining the
aja 11 [HH] species of tree . eyebrow.
aja n [HH] wooden clappers used as a musical aji"i 11 [HL] antidote; something taken to coun-
instrument; cymbal. * See "kponkpo" = teract the effect of a poison or other power-
wooden 'clappers. ful potion.
aja n [LL] oblation; offering; sacrifice - aja aji"i n [HLL] waist-band; belt.
Masi = sacrifice ofthe Mass . aji"i 11 [LHH] crocodile.
aja 11 [LL] 'large premiwn-quality freshwater ajilija 11 [HHHH] pebble; fine stone. var.
fish of the same family as "asa"; 2shark. ajlrlja
*"When he went fishing, he caught only asa ajirija 11 [HHHH] pebble: fine stone. var .
and aja". Nwapa, Efuru. ajilija.

13
ajirija Igbo Dictionary aka ngo

ajilija 11 [HHHH] sweat; body sweat. var. aka aboo 11 [HH LHH] two-handed stool.
aj"ir"ija; aziriza aka abuo 11 [HH LHH] double-dealing: steal-
ajirija n [HHHH] sweat; body sweat. var. ing; theft.
ajilija; aziriza aka afii 11 [LH HL] previous year var. aka ;
ajo ad] [HH] bad; faulty. aka ahii .
ajo ad) [HH] 'bad; not right - ajo uzo = bad aka ahia 11 [HH HHH] the first sale supposed
road: ajo nri = ajo nri = tasteless or 1111- to bring luck (or ill-luck) for the rest of the
appetisingfood; "hurtfuL unkind; discourte- day .
ous - ajo okwu = unkind, hurtful or dis cour- aka ahii 11 [LH HL] previous year. var. aka;
teous speech/words; 3evil or forbidden - ajo aka afii.
oMa = sacred or evilforest. *"Ajo" always aka azii 11 [HH LH] bribery; dishonest deal-
precedes the noun it modifies. ing .
ajii n [HH] pillar of house. aka ebe 11 [HH HH] testimony; witness.
ajii n [HH] 'head-pad made from leaves or aka ebe 11 [LL HL] flying ant yam-eating bug .
cloth; pad serving as stand for wine keg; 'gir- aka ekere 11 [HH HAH] groundnut. var. aha
dle ; Jsmall bundle or roll. e.g. of vegetable. ekere.
ajii n [HH] crocodile. var. ajii-iyi. aka ekpe 11 [HH LL] left hand; Lit: leopard 's
ajii n [HL] dizziness; epilepsy; giddiness. hand; southpaw's hand. vat: aka Ikpa; aka
ajii n [HL] consolation. ibite.
ajii ala n [HH LL] puff-adder; homed viper. aka enwe 11 [HH LL] deceit; foul play.
var. ajii-ani. aka en we 11 [HH LL] 'left hand; "southpaw.
ajii ani" n [HH LL] puff-adder; homed poi- 1'01'. aka Ikpa.

sonous viper. var. ajii ala (Bits oiistanss. aka ibite 11 [HH LLH] left hand - aka ibite =
ajii di mgba n [LL H HH] convulsion. *See left-hand; OI1lI!II(f ibite = left-handed person;
"ose" = convulsion. Lit: one who does /acts with the let; haud. var.
ajii iyi n [HH HH] crocodile; Lit: water viper. aka i"kpa.
var. aj'ii (Clltavhractlls). aka ike 11 [HH HH] tight-fistedness: cruelty-
ajiijii n [HLH] inquiry; question. (j nu-erne aka ike = he is tight-fisted; he call
ajiijii onii n [HLH HH] interview; oral ques- he cru el
tioning. aka ikwe 11 [HH HL] pestle .
ajUlii n [HHH] tranquiliser. aka Ikpa 11 [HH LL] left hand. Far. aka ekpe.
aka n [HH] branch; limb; tendril. aka Ila 11 [HH HL] (Aziunini) left-handed
aka 11 [HH] manner; style; way. person; southpaw. "See "ornena ibite " = one
aka n [HH] 'hand; finger-akaapiilagi'= God who acts with the left-hand.
forbid! Don 'tsay,it was an accident: Lit : fllCl)' aka Inya 11 [LH LL] (Oka) mat made of raffia
[FOW} hand never act on its own will; "han- palm, or from "ata' grass .
dle; attachment to an object by which it can aka ji 11 [HH H) yam sprout the tender light
be held, lifted, or carried. 1'01'. eka. green bud of yam.
aka n [HH] place; place where - 0 jere aka aka mbo n [LH HH] pangolin.
ah a = she went to that place: Aka 0 jere aka mkpo 11 [HH HH] pangolin. var . akabo,
adtglu anya = He went to a place not far aka mkpu 11 [HH HH] disease leading to the
away. var. eka. painful swelling of the finger- or toe-nail:
aka 11 [HL] dwarf; more particularly those whitlow. Far. aka nzo .
serving the chiefs ofNri. *See "nwa aka" = aka mpi 11 [HH LL] furked horns.
dwarf. aka na aka 11 [HH H HH] palm wine jar; kind
aka n [LH] previous year. var. aka ahii; aka ofjug.
afii . aka ode 11 [HH HH] wooden club used for
aka n [LL] wood insect. laundry .
aka n [LL] poisonous brown snake which can aka ngo 11 [HH HL] whitlow; inflammation of
strike from tree branch. the finger-nail.

14
aka ngwe Igbo-English akiti

aka ngwe 11 [HH HH] pestle; pounder; grind- "osu" . *See "ugwule" = slave village.
ing stone. akanwii n [LHH] potash; saltpetre; salt-like
aka nni n [HH HH] right hand var. aka nri. substance used in food preparation, and in
aka nri n [HH HH] right hand. var. aka nni. the production of gun-powder. var. akawa.
aka nzo 11 [HH HH] disease leading to the akanya 11 [LHH] I roofing mat made from
painful swelling of the finger- or toe-nail; bamboo fronds - iild akanya = tent : Lit: house
whitlow. var. aka mkpu . built with tarpaulin or canvas; lcanvas; tar-
aka nzo n [HH HH] finger-nail disease; whit- paulin. var, akanye; ok'iy"i.
low . akanye 11 [LHH] roofing-mat; canvas; tarpau-
aka odo 11 [HH HH] pestle; wooden instru- lin - iilo akanye = tent: Lit: house built with
ment for pounding food, etc. in mortar. var. tarpaulin or canvas. var. akanya; oki"y"i.
odo. akara n [HHH] (Bende) bitter kolanut.
aka okpo 11 [HH LL] fist; clenched hand; Lit: akara n [HLL] line; row - akara nZ/I = line of
"hand [set to give a] blow". chalk-mark. var. akala. *See "oke" = bound-
aka omii n [HH HH] grindstone. ary.
aka iitara n [HH HLL] (Ohafia/Nsuka) right akara n [LLL] (loan) bean cake; cake made
hand. from ground beans. duly seasoned and fried
aka-nni ori 11 [HH-HH HH] (Onica) klepto- in hot oil.
mania; incorrigible thief. akara n [LLL] 'measure or length of cloth;
akabiri n [HHLL] long green snake, usually strip of cloth; '(strictly) cloth with "nsibidi"
found living on tree-tops. motifs woven into them. var . iikara.
akabo 11 [HLL] pangolin; also known as ant- akara aka n [HLL HH] personal destiny or
eater. var. akabii; akamkpo. fortune; one's pre-determined luck ; Lit: lines
akabii 11 [HLL] pangolin; also known as ant- on one 's palm . var. akala aka.
eater. var. akabd; akamkpd, akara ihu n [HLL HH] (Owere) wrinkles;
akaje n [LLL] (loan(?» insult ; mockery; ridi- Lit : lines of the forehead. var. akala iru.
cule - mee mmadii akaje = mock or ridicule akara ogiri n [LLH LLL] (Ndizogii) 'vaga-
somebody. va r. akaji. bond; neer-do-well: 'sometimes used in a
akaji 11 [LLL] (loan(?)) insult; mockery; ridi- derogatory way to refer to an uncircumcised
cule. var. akaje. male. vor . akara ogoli ; okali oholi; ofo ogoli .
akakpd n [LLL] dwarf; thick-set man . akarama n [HHHH] (loan) 'bottle or flask ;
akala 11 [HLL] boundary; line; row. var. akara. glass container: ' special flask in use in the
*See "oke " = boundary. Niger Delta in the early years of European
akala n [LLL] (loan) bean cake; cake made trade. var. kalamam.
from ground beans, duly seasoned and fried akasa 11 [HLH] species ofcocoyam. var. akasi
in hot oil. var. akara. (Xanthosoma sasiuiialium). *See "ede aro"
akala iru n [HLLHH] (Onica) wrinkles; lines = cocoyam; also called "ede bekee" = Euro-
on the forehead var. akara ihu. pean cocoyam.
akalaka 11 [HHHH] crab . akasa 11 [LHL] kind ofcloth of special design ,
akalikpd 11 [HHHH] pupa stage of beetle. imported (then) mainly from Akassa port .
akalo 11 [LLL] (Oka) fog . akasi n [HLH] species ofeocoyam. mr. akasa
akamkpd 11 [HLL] pangolin; also known as tXsuulsusunu: susiiuialuuu). *See "ede aro"
ant-eater. var. akabd; akabii. = cocoyam.
akamu 11 [LLL] pap made from maize flour ; akata n [HHH] a variety of plant used in
cream of corn /maize. hedges and fenc es.
akana 11 [HHH] (West Igbo) twig. akawa 11 [LHH] (Bende) potash; saltpetre;
akani 11 [HHH] (Onica) anger. salt-like substance used in food preparation,
akankolo n [HHHHH] (West Igbo) name for and in the production of gun-powder. vat:
the village set aside for cult or indentured akanwu ,
slave in West Niger area; cult slave; same as akiti n [HHH] (loan(?» bracelet.

15
 aki Igbo Dictionary akpaigbo

aki 11 [HH] Ikernel; palm kernel ; "nut; hard seed fests do gs.
of fruit. var. akii. akoro 11 [LI-IH] a type of climbing plant.
aki 11 [HH] hunchback; hump-back . akotokpo 11 [HHHH] low-grade palm oil.
aki bekee 11 [HH LLL] coconut. var. akii bekee akpa 11 [1-11-1] uninhabited land ; wilderness:
(Coeos nueifera) . heath - bugude 11 'egu akpa = li ved in the
aki ilu 11 [HH LL] an bitter edible fruit, COIU- wilderness . var. ikpa. "The example is from
monly called the bitter kola, on account of Os0111ar'l: see also " oma agu" = heath.
its permitted use as a kolanut substitute. V O l'. akpa 11 [HH] matchet for cutting grass.
n.
akii ilu «(hil1eD/laC? *The fruit ha s many akpa 17 [HH] kind of fruit .
medicinal uses. akpa 17 [HH] species of fish .
aki mkpikii 11 [HH HHH] two palm kernels akpa 11 [1-11-1] tick; small para site of the spider
fused together; twin nuts. var. akii mkpi. family that afflicts dogs. "See "a koro" == tick.
akidi 11 [HHL] (West Igbo) dwarf; trickster. akpa 11 [LI-I] kind of edible caterpillar com-
akidi 11 [LHL] cowpea. monl y found on palm trees ,
akidi mpkishi n [LHH HHH] chicken peas. akpa 11 [LL] groundnut; peanut, HII'. okpa.
akika 11 [HLL] la mark or scratch; "ornamen- akpa 11 [LL] dumb person .
tal mark on the body- akpa 11 [LL] 'bag: pouch ; pocket ; sack: Cnest
akika 11 [LHL] (Ihiala) dry yam stems. - akpa aihi = bee hive .
akika 11 [LHL] white ant. akpa 11 [LL] kind of game .
akika oyighoyi n [HHH LLLL] finishing or akpa abii 11 [LL HH] bo il: cellulitis.
smoothing chisel used by blacksmiths. akpa af 11 [LL HH] diviner's bag.
akikala 11 [LHHH] (aka) crab. akpa agii 11 [LL BB] (Oka ) hunter 's trap for
akikb 11 [HHH] (Onica) story. val', akiikd . large animals . "See "mkpakana" = lion trap .
aki'li adj [HHH] (Onica) thin . akpa akpa n [LL LL] small tortoi se.
akiTibii 11 [HHLH] (aka) coconut. akpa akpa 11 [LL LL] (Ndizogu) maize ; corn;
akil'iko 11 [HLHH] dry yam stems. mai ze-pottage .
akiri 11 [LLH] frog. akpa akii 11 [LL HH] quiver: bundle of ar-
akiri"ka 11 [HHHH] tattered basket; bamboo rows.
mat; thatch. akpa ala 1/ [HH LL] thunder.
akiti 11 [HHH] specjes of tree . akpa ala 1/ [LH HH] dung beetle whose lar-
akitikpa 11 [LHHH]" kind of wild yam. vae develop in dung. and is for ever ferrying
akitikpo 11 [HHHH] male lizard. dung. \'(/1'. akpa ana ,
akd 11 [HH] pneumonia. akpa ala 11 [LL HH] kind of sleeping mat.
ako 11 [LH] cleverness; guile. akpa ala 11 [LL HH] underclothes supporting
akd na nee 11 [LH L HL] common sense; in- the breasts : bra : bra ssiere. \ '((1' akpa ara .
telligence; practical wisdom. akpa amii 11 [LL HL] scrotum ; bag of skin
akoli"ko 11 [HHHH] scabies on animals. containing testicles.
akolO 11 [LHH] common sense ; sense. akpa anwii 1/ [LL HH] hi ve: bee-hive; honey-
akolo 11 [LHH] kidney. VOl'. akiild; akiirii. comb. VUI'. akpa afiii ,
akom 11 [HLL] hepatitis; jaundice; yellow akpa afiu 1/ [LL HH] beehive; hive; honey-
fever. comb. vat: akpa anwii.
akom 11 [LL] hippo. V O l'. akiim. akpa ara 11 [LL HH] (Owere) underclothes
akoo abaa n [HHH LHH] a variety ofcocoyam supporting the breasts; bra ; brassiere. \'(/1'.
that produces multiple tubers; sometimes akpa ala .
called "ede India"; Lit: "plant it, and it mul- akpaego 17 [LLHH] 'bag of money : a set o f
tiplies". VOl'. oeO. twenty "ukwu ego" or about 1.200 cowries;
akoro 11 [HHH] dryness of the vagina; atresia 18 of them (21.600 cowries) would be the
vaginae. VOl'. akpold, *Full form is "akoro equivalent of one hundred English pounds
otu". sterling; 2purse or pouch .
akoro n [LHH] tick ; spider-like flea that in- akpa igbo 11 [LH LL] (Onica) medium-sized

16
akpa Igbo-English akpo

women's all-purpose bag, used for going to akpete 11 [HLL] (loan ") bush-rat.
the market. akpi 11 [HH] (West lgbo) uncircumcised pe-
akpa mma-mirl 11 [LL HH-HH] bladder. var. nis: penis with foreskin still intact.
akpa nwa-mili. akpi 11 [HL] bug; scorpion; tick.
akpa nwa 11 [LL HH] ovary; womb ; uterus . akpi mkpa 11 [HH HH] hides ; animal hide .
akpa nwa-mili 11 [LL HH-HH] bladder, var. akpi nta 11 [HL HH] dog flea: tick .
akpa mma-miri. akpi ozala 1/ [HH LLL] scorpion. var . akpi
akpaka 11 [HHH] anvil ; iron stand used by ozara.
smiths; "See "osi arna" ;: anvil. akpi ozara 11 [HH LLL] scorpion. var . akpi
akpaka 11 [LHH] 'oil-bean fruit; oil-bean tree ; ozala.
-dish made from oil-bean seed and spices . akpidi 11 [HHH] low-grade palm oil, thick
var. iigba; iikpaka; iikpakala (Pentaclethra almost to a geL Wlr. akpdtd: akpiitii.
macrophvlla). akpili 11 [LHH] 'throat; neck: ldesire: appetite
akpaka anwii 11 [HHH HH] honey-comb; - akptltogonogo> ambition : Lit: long throat.
beehive. va r . akplr'i.
akpako 11 [LLH] calabash or gourd. *See akpili 11 [LHH] flute made from calabash. var.
"agbe" ;: gourd. akpiri,
akpala 11 [LHH] bird droppings. var. akpana . akpili n [LLL] money bundle, amounting to
akpalata 11 [HLLL] bamboo basket. 108,000 cowries. *The equivalent, then , of
akpana n [LHH] bird droppings. var . akpala. five pounds sterling.
akpankwo 11 [LHHH] dung-beetle . akpili aka 11 [LHH HH] pulse ; rate of heart
akpara 11 [HLL] wide wicker-basket or tray. beat as measured from the wrist .
var. asakala. "See " oda" ;: basket. akpili ide n [LHH HL] whitish insect that
akpara 11 [LHH] bird droppings; bird dung. clusters around fruit trees and fruit leaves.
akpara 11 [LLL] large animal of the duiker var . akpiri ide; akpiri Ida.
family, close to "ekpeke and different in akpili nta 11 [LHH HL] larynx; voice box .
colour from "mgbada" . *See "mgbada" and akpimkpa n [HLHH] 'kind of tick that pro-
"ekpeke", duces rashes on animals; -rashes produced by
akparata 11 [HHHH] species oftree with hard- tick-bite.
wood timber. akpirf 11 [LHH] 'neck; throat; ldesire; ambi-
akpata 11 [HHH] broom made of small long tion; greed - akpiriogologo> ambition: Lit:
sticks. long throat; ' thirst. var. akpili.
akpata n [HHH] 'drying tray made of wicker- akpiri 11 [LHH] flute made from long narrow
work; lshed . gourd. mr. akpm. "See " opu" ;: flute.
akpata 11 [HLL] measles; infectious disease, akpiri 11 [LLH] flea: bed bug.
mostly ofchildren, marked by numerous skin akpir'j ide n [LHH HL] whitish insect that
rashes. clusters around fruit trees and fruit leaves .
akpata n [HLL] (Abo) prawn; shrimp. var. akp"jri Ida.
akpata oyi 11 [HLL HH] goose-bump; raised akpiri ida 11 [LLH HL] whitish insect that
bristles on the skin caused by very high fe- clusters around fruit trees and fruit leaves.
ver or fear ; goose-flesh. VUI'. akptri-ide.

akpata onii 11 [HH-HH] story: tale . akpiri uta 11 [LHH HH] larynx: voice box.
akpati 11 [HLL] large box ; suitcase usually of var. akpill uta .
wood or metal, very much like a cabin box - akpirima 11 [LLLL] (loan) thief; one who
akpati ozu ;: coffin; Lit: box for a corpse. pilfers things, especially from the farm. var .
akpati ozu 11 [HLL HH] box in which a corpse ekperlma,
is placed for burial. akpo 11 [LH] type of fish.
akpele 11 [LLL] flute-like musical instrument akpo 11 [LL] low grade wine from trunk of
made from a narrow gourd; flute. var. akplli ; palm. "See "iti '" low grade wine .
akpir"i. *See "oja" = flute . akpii 11 [HH] chin: upper jaw: tooth gum. var.

17
 -_
..... ..........'''-- ~ "..,~ ......----- ---
akpokpa Igbo Dictionary akii

akpu. akpii otuwe 11 [LL HLL] navel. var. otuwe;

akpokpa 11 [LLH] (Afikpo) corn; maize. vat: otume; akpa otobo: otobo: akpa otume.
i"kpakpa. akpii ohii 11 [HL HH] buttock. var. akpii ahii;
akpoli 1/ [HHH] (Onica) current: waves. akpii arii.
akpolo 11 [HHH] dryness ofthe vagina; atresia akpii onii 11 [HH HH] 'Adam's apple; the
vaginae. vat: akoro. *full form is "akpolo "stump" or projection in front of the neck;
otu", 2 go itre, or disease involving swelling of the

akpolu 11[HLL] (Onica) spleen disease. thyroid gland. var. akpii akpili.
akpoto 11 [HHH] low grade palm oil, thick akpii orii 11 [HL HH] buttock. m 1'. akpii ahii;
almost to a gel. va r. akpidi; akpiitii . akpii ohii: akpii arii .
akpoto 11 [LLL] (Afikpo) walking stick. akpiikpa 11 [HHH] scabies.
akpii 11 [HH] 'cassava plant or tuber: -mashed akpiikpa 11 [HHH] mango.
cassava, soaked in water for lip to four days. akpiikpa 11 [HLL] broom made from shrubs.
washed clean. and cooked: foofoo: 'tapioca. akpukpo /1 lHHH] 'hide: processed skin of
or dried thinly-shredded cassava slices animal: leather - akpiikpo auii = hide of
("'fallihot eSClIle11la: A4allihot unlissiiua) . skill lied animul: -membrane or outerskiu;
Akpii 11 [HH] a god or deity to which the foreskin - i:~ha akpiikp6 = drum membrane.
"akpu" tree is dedicated. var. akpiikpii .
akpii 11 [HH] 'silk-cotton-tree: huge tree with akpukpo iikwii 11 lHHH HH] footwear; shoes;
thorns, held sacred in most communities: the Lit: hides for the feet.
thorn-tree. or red-tlowered silk-cotton tree- akpiikpii 11 [HHIl] hide: skin..
akpii 0/1\\'0 ogbu anii ukwu = sacred tree [that akpiikpii 11 [HHH] small hard lumps in oth-
rejuvenates] killers o] hug: animals (i,e. erwise well-pounded foofoo or similar prepa-
leopards): ckapok tree (Cciha /Jelulalldra: B. ration.
luuuuuussuse). *Thc example is from V . lke. akpiikpii 11 [HHHJ 'hide: processed skin of
The Bottled Leopard. p. 133 . animal: leather - akpiikpii ani! = hide of
akpii 11 [HL] knot; non-pus swelling: tumour. skinned animal: -rnembrane or outerskin:
akpii 1/ [HL] seed yam. foreskin - i"gha akpiikpo = drum membrane.
akpii 11 [IlL] stump. var. akpiikpii.
akpii 11 [LH] chin. vat: akpo. akpiikpii ahii 11 [HHH HH] skin; animal skin.
akpii ahii 11 [HL HH] buttock. var. akpii arii. akpiikpii nni 11 [HHH HH] small hard lumps
akpii akpi'li' 11 [HH HHH] 'Adam's apple; the found in poorly pounded foofoo or similar
"stump" or projection in front <of the neck: preparation. 1'(/1'. akpiikpii nri. *See "ntakii
2goitre, or disease involving swelling of the nm .
thyroid gland. var. akpii onii. akpiikpii nri 11 [HHH HIl] small hard lumps
akpii arii 11 [HL HH] buttock. vat: akpii ahii, found in poorly pounded foofoo or similar
akpii ji 11 [HH H] seed yam; stump of har- preparation. vat: akpukpii nni.
vested yam, used as "seed" in next year's akpiirii 11 [HHH] (Afikpo) kernel: fruit; seed.
planting. \-ar. mkpurii.
akpii mmiri 11 [HL HHH] varicose veins: akpiitii 11 [HHH] low grade palm oil, thick
enlarged veins. almost to a gel. 1"(/1' . akpidi; akpoto.
akpii nkolo 11 [HH LLL] variety of cassava. akii 11 [HH] edible clay. *See "iilo" = clay.
akpii osisi n [HL-HHH] stump; tree-knot. akii n [HH] [palm kernel; kernel; 2n ut; hard
akpii otobo 11 [LL HLL] navel; stump on the seed of fruit. var. aki,
stomach at which the umbilical chord is at- akii 11 [HH] pubic hair.
tached to the body. var. otuwe; otume: akpa akii 11 [HL] black beads.
otuwe; otobo; akpa otume. • akii 11 [LH] arrow - akpa akii = quiver.
akpii otume 11 [LL HLL] navel. var . otuwe; akii 11 [LH] shutter.
otume: akpa otobo; otobo; akpa otuwe. akii 11 [LLJ property; riches: wealth; mammon.
akpii otutu 11 [HL-HHH] blister. akii 11 [LL] edible species of flying ant: often

18
akii bekee Igbo-English akwa mkpuci

fried in its oil and dried for storage. var. akii the edges or corners.
ebe; akii mpu. akiikwa 11 [HHH] pain (orperiodofpain) after
akii bekee n (HH LLL] coconut. var. aklbekee childbirth . *See "onodii nwa' = post-pactum
(Cocos nucifera). pains .
akii ebe 11 [LL HL] 'edible species of flying akiikwa one 11 [HHH HH] children by the
ant or termite; often fried in its oil and dried same mother; mother' s children.
for storage; 2yam-eating bug. var. akii; akii aklilo 11 [LHH] kidney. var . akolO; akiirii.
mpu. akiilii 11 [HHH] ornament.
akii eze n [LH HH] tooth-ache. aklilii 11 [HLL] fungus attaching to the palm
akii ilu 11 [HH HH] bitter kola nut; crunchy tree; mushroom .
bitter nut , often served with , or as a substi- akiilii n [LHH] tick: insect parasite of the
tute for, kola nut . var. agba Hu . *See spider family : a kind of flea .
"ugugolo" = bitter kola. akiilii 11 [LLL] premium quality palm wine.
akii mkpi n [HH HH] two palm kernels fused var. akiirii.
together; twin-seeded palm nut. var. aki akiim 11 [HHH] hippo. 1'W·. akom .
mkplkd. *A reference to the twin balls ofthe akiim ala 11 [HHH LL] species of yam .
he-goat! . akiipe 11 [LLH] (loan) fan; hand -held personal
akii mkpu n [LL HH] edible species offlying fan made from a species of raffia palm.
ant; often fried in its oil and dried for stor- akiirako 11 [LLHH] charred remains of food.
age . var. akii; akii mpu. akiirii 11 [LHH] kidney. var. akiilii: akolO.
akii mmiri n [HH HHH] hail; hailstorm. var. akiirii 11 [LLL] premium quality palm wine.
akii mmili. vat: akiilii .
akii mpu n [LL LH] edible flying ant or ter- akiirii 11 [LLL] species ofsmall, black insect;
mite. var . akii; akii ebe; akii mkpu. tick .
akii otii n [LL HH] clitoris; small upper end akiirii iigba 11 [LLL LL] kind of prickly plant
of a woman's genitalia. var. atiitii otii . - okpa nkii akpara akiirii iigba = thefirewood
akii ugo n [HH LL] white palm kernel. picker knows better than to pick the "akiirii
akii ii10 11 (LL LL] purlins; horizontal bam- iigba " plant. \'{Ir. akiirii.
boo roofing member. akwa 11 [HH] lamentation; tears; weeping.
akiibara n [HHHH] creepingplantthatcauses akwa n [HH] funeral; funeral obsequies; wake
skin irritation. var. akiigba; akiigbara (M11=. keeping; lamentations for the dead; mourn-
cuna urens). ing. with associated crying.
akiigba n [HHH] prickly creeping plant. var. akwa 11 [HH] money bundle amounting to
akiibara; akiigbara (Mucuna urens). 1,200 cowries. *See "ayolo" = cowries.
akiigbara n [HHHH] irritant creeping plant akwa 11 [HL] cloth : cloth lengths. *See
var. akiigbara; akiigba (Ml/cl/na uisus). "ogodo" = waist-cloth.
akiiko 11 [HHH] narrative ; story ; tale. akwa n [LH] egg .
akiiko n [HLL] curved hoeing knife . var. akwa 11 [LL] bridge - akwa mmiri = bridge
nkuko. across a river: formerly constructed oflogs
akiiko ani n [HHH LL] legend; tales of the and held together with ropes.
land and lineage. akwa n [LL] 'bed: couch; -hammock. or bed
akiikoifo n [HHHHL] folk-tales of'a general made from canvas or tarpaulin.
type, usually in prose, with songs inter- akwa 11 [LL] (Onica) kind of bird.
spersed var. akiiko iro. akwa arara 11 [HH LLL] lament; cry ofsorrow
akiiko iro n {HHH LH] folk-tale of a general by the weak . *See "uri akwa " = dirge ; lament.
type, usually in prose, with songs inter- akwa mkpe 11 [H L HL] sack -cloth worn for a
spersed var. akiiko ifo. season of months by widowed people; Lit:
akiikii n [HLL] side; corner; part. cloth of widowhood .
akiikii 11 [LLL] gossip. akwa mkpuci 11 [HL HLH] curtain or veil;
akiikii akiikii adv [HLL HLL] sideways; from cloth used in covering or shielding object or

19
, ,j !I

lgbo Dictionary ala nkita

akwala

area - akwa mkpuci iru = veil to coverthe [a: e epileptic' tits ,

akwirla 11 [LLL] harlot or prostitute. var.
(E\". 26 :31).
akwala n [HHL) root - gban.l·e akwala = set akwiina. "See "akwLina-akwLina" = harlot.
down roots. vat: akwara. akwiima 11 [LLL] smallpox - kworo there kuru
11\l'it ak:viima= agree 10 ((117'1' a child infected
akwala iru n [HLL HH] (Onica) wrinkles:
lines on the forehead, 1'01', akwara ihu. with small-pox [akv. i ;II /(/ / in one '.I' arms/or
akwam ozu 11 [LHH HH] funeral or burial rites . fear of causing ctntuu nI""IIICI1I.
akwara 11 [HHH] guinea-worm. akwiina n [LLL] harlot or prostitute. 1'111'.
akwara n [HHL] 'coarse fibre from the peti- akwiila. *See "akwuna akwuna" = harlot.
oles or slender stalk of grO\ving palm leaves; akwuna akwima 11 [LL L LLL] harlot or pros-
'twine; rope . titute; named after "Akunakuna", the Ogoja
akwara 11 [HHL] I root - gban.l'e akwara = set town famous 111 colonial times as source of
do: \'I { roots: 'nerve; tendon; artery. vat: harlots for West African cities, ]'01'. akwiila:
akwala. akwiina .
akwara iru n [HLL HH] (Owere) wrinkles; ala adj [LL] south; southerly. *compare with
lines on the forehead. var. akwala ihu. "ugwu" = "north".
akwii 11 [HH] palm; palm-nut; palm-tree. VOl'. ala 11 [HH] (Oni'ca) breast - ike ala = breast
nkwii (Elaise fJuinensis). lobe. var ara .
akwii 11 [HH] (Bende-Ohafia) silk-cotton tree. ala 11 [HH] (Onicn ) madness; insanity. var.
akwii 11 [LH] deserted farmland. ara .
akwii n [LH] nest; widow's hut. ala n [HH] used to i etcr to suckers or shoots
akwii 11 [LH] door; shutter; window. of particular plants.
akwii 11 [LH] l1et for catching fish; fish trap . ala 11 [LL] (Owere ) earth: ground; land; soil.
var. nkwu (azii). var. ani: ale.
akwii 11 [LL] widow. *See "okwa" = widow. ala n [LL] bottom. 1'01' ani'. *cf. "isi" = top.
akwii ani 11 [HH LL] white ant. Ala /1 [LL] (Owere] Earth: Earth goddess. VUI'.
akwii nro 11 [HH HL] hand-squeezed palm Ana; Ani.
oil; i.e. quality palm oil extracted by hand ala aka /I "[LL HH] 'tributary; arm or branch
from fresh unboiled fruits . (e.g . of river); -inlct - a/a aka osimiri '= sea
akwii olu 11 [HH HL] pineapple. \'((1', nkwii inlet, \ ar, ara aka,
olu. ala akoro /I [LL LLL] earth; earths crust.
akwiikwa 11 [HLL] earthen pot-stand. ala enu /1 [HH HH] (Omca) colostrum; moth-
akwiikwa n [LLL] curse - gbaa akwiikwa = er's first milk, usually yellow and bitter.
rain abuses. ala eze /I [LL HL] kingdom; dominion.
akwiikwo 11 [HHI-I] paper; book; leaf; sheet ala ezi /1 [LL LH] shrine containing the clay
of paper. figures of family deities; a kind ofvigbudu".
akwilkwo akpii 11 [HHH HH] vegetable and *See "igbudu" = family idol.
banana dish. ala mgbalagada /1 [HH HHHHH] flat fallen
akwiikwo ndii n [HHH HL] green leaf; non- breast associated with adult women, *See
edible green leaf - akwiikwo ndu, akwukwo "ala mgbotogo" = fallen breasts.
ndii = green; greenish. ala mgbotogo /1 [HH LLLH] flat fallen breast
akwiikwo nni n [HHH HH] vegetable; edible associated with adult women.
green vegetable. var. akwiikwii nri. ala mmiiii /1 [HH LHH] 'spirit world: Lit: land
akwukwo nri 11 [HHH HH] vegetable; edible of the spirits; nether world: 'hell - zida na
green vegetable. var. akwiikwo nni, 111/1/66 = descended IJ110 hell (Is. 5: 141. \,(11',
Akwiikwd Nsd n [HHH HH] Holy Bible; the ala mrnuo .
texts of the Old and New Testaments; Lit: ala nkita /1 [HH HHL] (Onica) rabies; Lit:
Sacred Book. dog madness.
akwiikwii 11 [LLL] epileptic fits: fits oftrepi- ala nkita /1"[HH HHL] (Onica) shrubby climb-
dation - akwukwu na-ebu ya = he does have ing plant with white-to-pink flowers (D.

20

-r- t .............---
ala ntakd Igbo-English ama

sassuilis) . crest on head of cock. var. arii okpa; alo

ala ntakd 11 [HH HHH] nodal breasts yetto be egbene.
fully formed; shrunk breast of a grown alolO 11 [LLL] dregs .
woman. aloo n [HHH] umbilical chord var . aliilo.
ala oca 11 [LL HH] sub-fertile land; land far alukpu 11 [HLL] (Oka) cloud. var. irukpu.
away from (flood) water. val". ani" oca. alii CId; [HH] (Onica) heav y - ibu alii = heavy
ala okpoo 1/ [LL HHH] dry parched land . load. var. arii.
alaga 11 [HHH] needle. alii 11 [~H] bite - taa alii = hire. var. arii.
ale 11 [LL] (Afikpo) earth; ground; land; soil. alii 1/ [HH] (West Igbo) sponge made from
var. ala; ani palm frond ; called " ncic a" when used to wash
ale le 11 [LLL] (Oka) delicacy of bean meal , plates . var. alii.
mixed with oil and other spices, and steamed alii n [HH] (Onica) abomination; sacrilege;
to a stable consistency in a wrap of select taboo. var . arii. "Usually against the Earth.
leaves; very much like the "moi moi", var. as in "luo ani" = commit an abomination.
elele . alii 11 [HH] bell.
all n [LH] parasite that attacks the eyes. var. alii n [HH] weight; heaviness. var . arii.
ari; ari"ri alii 11 [HL] ceremonial staff of office or walk-
ali'bala 11 measles; infectious disgase, mostly ing stick carried by titled men - alii OZO =
ofchi ldren, marked by numerous skin rashes. ceremonial staffcarried by 0:0 title holders.
\'01". -alubala. "See "akpata" = measles. var. alo . *See otO.
alibo 11 [LLH] (1oan)~.Qlj1~m yam. maize, alii okpa 11 [LH LL] cockscomb. *See "alo
or cassava. egbene" = cockscomb .
allghi'ri' adj [HLLL] lean and tough. var . Aliia exc/ [LLL] (West Igbo) Welcome! ;
anighini. Welcome backl: Happy return home!. var.
alika 11 [HLH] 'lizard; 2rascal; person oflean ne.
and ungainly build. aliibala n measles: infectious disease, mostly
alila n [HHH] funnel. ofchildren, marked by numerous skin rashes.
alila n [LHH] surgical blade. val". alibala . *See "akpata" = measles.
arm n [HHH] (Onica) 'centipede; millipede; aliilo n [HHH] umbilical chord. var. alOo.
"euphemism for "snake" -Ieele alili> look! aliilii 11 [HLH] cloud; haze; mist. var. aliiliiii.
a centipede; a phrase used to politely ask a alUlU n [LHH] marriage; the act of getting
speaker to stop. var. ar·irl. *See "esu" = married - aWW di IIa nwal1Yi' = marriage
millipede. between husband and woman. var. OIUlii.
alili" n [LLL] (Onica) undeserved agony; ex- aliilii 11 [LLL] stake from tree branch used to
treme grief; misfortune; sorrow - aririka njo support yam stems and tendrils.
= the ivorst suffering is undeserved agony. aliilii ana If [HHH LL] mischief; wickedness;
var. arlr]. meanness. var. ariirii ala.
alo 11 [LL] gong. *cf. "agogo" = gong. aliilUii n [HLHH] cloud; haze; mist. var. aliilii.
alO 11 [HH] homed viper; puff-adder. aliiliiii 11 [LHHH] blue or indigo dye; the tree
alO 11 [HH] umbilical chord. from which dyes are obtained.
alo n [HL] walking stick, or ceremonial staff aliisi n [HHH] (Onica) fetish; idol; carved
ofoffice carried by titled men - alo OZO = staff \ representation ofa spirit or deity. var. ariisi.
ofoffice used by an OZO title holder. var. alii. ama 11 [HH] (Nsiika) god; 'spirit.
*See "ngwu' = staff of office. ama n [HH] 'compound; settlement; 2fringe
alo 11 [LL] big metal gong, used in the or outer part of settlement (as distinct from
"Atilogwu" dance. its core , or "nguru") - Isu ama = part ofIsft
ald egbene n [LH LLL] cockscomb; red fleshy regarded as being 011 its outerfringes ofthe
crest on head of cock. var. alO okpa; arii settlement.
okpa. ama n [HH] 'spleen.iinflammation of the
alO okpa [LH LL] cock's comb; red fleshy spleen with associated pain. var. iima.

21
 ama Igbo Dictionary ana aghara ndii

ama 11 [HH] 'family group or kindred; small amaghi ama 11 [HHH LH] accident: some-
village; 2road leading from village or family thing done unwittingly - (j bii amaghiama =
group; maintained by the community and it was all accident: the act was not intended.
serves social and ritual functions; 3village amala adv [LLL] about; almost - (j bialu amala
square; open space used for meetings and izu ita = he came about three weeks ago .
other communal activities. amala n [HLL] cross-beam .
ama 11 [HL] measure; step. amala n [LHH] (aka) colour - all/ala ojii =
ama 11 [HL] 'chapter; verse; 2mark; pointer to black or blue-grey colour.
a location. amala 11 [LLL] (Onica) paddle; broad-bladed
ama 11 [LL] 'information; intelligence; 2inform- oar used by canoe-men .
ant - onye ama = spy; informant. amala 11 [LLL] grace ; mercy ; pity ; favour;
ama n [LL] time. kindness. var. amara.
ama alia n [HH HHH] boil; inflammation; amaDi adv [LLL] at; at the time of; on the
inflammation of the gums; tooth ache. var. occasion of- amani onwu ul1yi'= at the time
ama ahia. ·See "ama azi" = tooth ache. ofour death.
ama am n [LH HH] enlarged spleen; spleni- amara 11 [LLL] grace; mercy; pity; favour;
tis. var. uma aro. kindness. vor. amala.
ama af610 n [LH LLL] male sterility. amara n [LLL] paddle; broad-bladed oar used
ama ahia 11 [HH HHL] boil; inflammation; by canoe-men .
inflammation of the gums; tooth ache. var. ami n [HL] kind of reed shaped for wine-tap-
ama afia. ·See "ama azi" = tooth ache. ping.
ama ala n [HH LL] plank . ami 11 [LL] female genitals.
ama ala n [HH LL] indigenous person; per- ami aca Il [LH LH] fast maturing variety of
son born into the community. maize; Lit: ripening even while growing.
ama ama adj [HL LH] well-known or illus- amiri n [HHH] wine.
trious; famous ; popular; renowned - 0 bii amusu 11 [HHH] witch; witchcraft ; the prac-
onye ama ama = he is a well-known person- tice whereby a sleeping victim is attacked by
ality. • a witch appearing in the form of bird, insect,
ama azi n [HH HH] tooth ache. or animal. var. amiisu.
ama onye n [LL HH] spy; informant; Ut: you amii 11 [HH] (Onica) cheer; hilarity ; laughter;
never know who!. smile - oci no amu = laughter and smiles .
ama ukwu n [HH HH] main or primary vil- amu 11 [HH] mark or tattoo on chest or fore-
lage open space; village central square. *See head.
"obodo ezi" = village square. amu 11 [HL] penis; testicle.
ama ugha n [LL LH] false testimony . amu ibi 11 [HL HL] hernia.
ama ugha 11 [LL LH] false information. amiidezi 11 [HHHH] slave; indentured house
ama iikwii n [HL HH] unit of measurement; servant. *See also "oru".
verse - ama iikwii ise = five steps (lit: foot- amtima 11 [HHH] prophecy; warning - onye
lengths); 5th verse (e.g . ofsong or poem). amiima = prophet.
ama-afia aka 11 [LL-HHH HH] whitlow; in- amuma [HLH] dirt; filth.
11
flammation of the finger-nail. amuma [LLL] lightning; lightning flash -
11
ama-afia eze n [LL-HHH HH] tooth-ache. amiima igwe = lightningflash; Lit: flashes
amadi n [LHH] free-born adult; aristocrat or ofthe sky.
noble man; in the Aro system, refers to a amiima 1/ [LLL] mental illness.
member ofan Aro settlement whose ances- ana n [LL] (Onica) earth; ground ; land.
tors were never slaves. ADa 11 [LL] (Onica) Earth; Earth goddess. var.
Amadi oha n [LHH LL] .Igod of thunder; its Ana; Ani.
shrine is marked by a forked stick, or a log ana aghara ndii 11 [LL HHH HL] a variety of
resting on two large bamboo posts; 2carved orange with edible rind. used in curing palm
figure of the god. wine.

22
ana aka Igbo-English anya ji

ana aka 11 [LL HH] twig ; tree-branch. var. tion of "anu" = beast.
aba aka. anunu 11 [HHH] pus.
anaga n [HHH] surgical needle. aouno 11 [LLL] kind of bird.
anagba 11 [HHH] anklet; bracelet. aniinu ede 11 [LLL] 'cocoyam tuber. esp . the
anam n [LLL] cloth work loosely around the branching tuber which serves as sucker;
waist; loin cloth. cocoyam connlets; -kiud of cocoyam with
anambe 1/ [LLL] (Mbieri) branching tuber of small reddish sucker-like tubers . var. aoiinii;
the cocoyam. var. anunii; anunii-ede. anambe.
anasi 11 [HHH] head-wife; first wife in a po- aououii 11 [LLLL] variety of dye or pigment;
lygamous household; also called " nwanyi isi the blue-dye producing plant. .
ci''t. anwa n [HL] attempt; a trial.
ani 11 [HL] porcupine. anwa n [LL] dogs vomit - nkita adighi eli
ani 11 [LL] (Onica) earth; earth goddess; anwa ya = a dog does 110t eat its OWI1 vomit.
ground. var. ala; ana. anwa nsi n [LL LL] magic ; necromancy.
ani 11 [LL] bottom. var. ala. anwofi n [HHH] joy; rejoicing; gladness. vat:
Ani 11 [LL] (Onica) Earth; Earth goddess. var. anofi.
Ala ; Ana. anwii 11 [HH] sun ; sunl ight .
ani pm [HH] one alone; solo. *See "naani". anwii 11 [HH] mosquito.
ani olu 11 [LL HH] wetlands, orland constantly anwii 11 [HH] bee. var. aoii.
under flood; flood plain; wetlands; riverine aowii anwii ad; [HL HL] immortal; never
land. *See "rngboko" = wetlands. dying.
ani Dca n [LL HH] sub-fertile land; land far anwii nta n [HH HL] mosquito.
away from (flood) water. *also called "agba- aowiilii 11 [HLL] smoke: soot. var. anwurii;
enu" or "igbo". anyiilii .
aniga 11 [HLlf] (Onica) lizard var. anika. anwiirii n [HHL] smoke; soot \ '0 1'. 3DWiilu'
*Used with this meaning in the novel, anyiilii.
Ojaadili. p. 2. anwuru 11 [HLL] ground tobacco ; snuff; to-
anighini adj [HLLL] lean and tough. var. bacco. var. anwiilii.
alighiri. anwiita 11 [HHL] mosquito. var. anwii nta.
amKa 11 [HLH] lizard var. aniga. anya adj [HH] far: distant.
anim 11 [LLH] female tortoise. var. aniim; aoya n [HH] eye .
anyim. anya n [HH] attitude; disposition.
aoima 11 [HLL] seed yam. good for planting. anya 11 [HH] watch .
anini 11 [LHH] coin formerly in local use; worth anya 11 [HH] plate.
a farthing or a quarter of a penny - lowest- anya 1/ [HH] gap or narrow opening; small
value coin; mite. fissure; openingjust enough to allow light to
anD num [LH] four; the number 4; fourth. pass through - mee ([11.Fa = have a gap : cie
anu 11 [HH] 'animal; beast; 2flesh; meat. var. 1I11HI = he completely sealed.
unu. anya 11 [LL j thick rope made from plant-skin;
anu ahu 11 [HH LH] flesh . var. anii arii. cane made from similar material.
anu aro n [HH LH] flesh. var. aou ahii. anya acii 11 [HH HH] whip; cane .
aou ohia n [HH HHH] animal; beast ; Lit: ani- anya atUlii 11 [HH HHL] blue eyes . like those
mal of the forest. of sheep.
anum n [LLH] female tortoise. VOl'. anim; anya egbe 11 [HH HH] squint-eye.
anyim. anya egele 11 [HH LLL] eyes that do not see
anum iiyOlo n [LLH HLL] (bka) plantain; well in strong light; hazel eyes.
variety of plantain with smallish fruits . aoya ike 11 [HH HH] boldness: aggressive-
anumaoii 11 [HHHLL] 'animal; beast; 2stupid ness.
person - kpaa agwa ka aniimanii = behave aoya ji 11 [HH H] set of yarns from ten barn
like a animal. without sense. *A 'reduplica- poles (or "mkpa.,) each consisting of about

23
J" frr 2 I I r

Igbo Dictionary apa

anya mba

48 yams. *See "mkpa" = barn pole. coin.

anyii ike 11 [HH HH] axe. var. anyike.
anya mba n [HH HH] eye-sore.
anyii nda 11 [HH LL] pumpkin: cucumber.
anya mkpo n [HH HH] blindness.
anyii nka 11 [HH LL] hammer, about half the
anya mkpolo n [HH LHH] blindness.
size of the maim hammer ("otutu"), used by
anya mkpord 11 [HH LHH] blindness.
anya mmanii 11 [HH HHH] jaundiced eyes; smiths to round off sharp edges: smoothing
yellow eyes associated with fever. hammer.
anyiilii 11 [HHH] bundle offruit vat: anyiirii.
anya mmiri n [HH HHH] tears.
anya mpia n [HH HHH] blindness in one eye. anyiilii 11 [HLL] smoke; soot - anyiili! oki! =
anya nku 11 [HH LL] (Ngwa) backbone; smoke : soot troni burning. var. anwiilii;
hence, strength - nwa bii anya nku = child is anyurii.
(family 's) backbone. var. anyunku. anyiirii 11 [HHH] bundle of fruit. 1"(/1". anyulii.
anya nniinii n [LL] species ofbird; kingfisher. anyiirii 11 [HLL] gum; flesh surrounding teeth
anya olu 11 [LL HH] necklace . - anvuru e:e = tooth gUIIl.
anya oca n [HH HH] impudence. ana 11 [HH] cane; rope: whip. var. anii.
anya ogbango 11 [HH HHLL] blindness. ana 11 [HH] black foul-smelling an t. 1'(1/'. ana
anya ojoo 11 [HH HHH] dislike; hatred. ahia,
anya okii 11 [HH HH] I inflammation ofthe eye; ana ahia 11 [HH HHH] black foul-smelling
conjunctivitis; keratitis; "envy. ant. vu r. ana .
anya oma n [HH HH] friendship; love. ana nti n [HH HL] inattention: stubbornness.
anya ucici 11 [HH LHL] lIight; night-time; Lit : afiaa n [LHH] manner: condition - iizo diaiiaa
eye ofdarkness. *See "anyasi" = night-time . = a particular wuvnnanner. var. aghaa.

anya ufie 11 [HH LLL] squint-eye; red-eye. *equivalent to Owerri "kpa".

var. anya uvie; anya uflfle. afiara 11 [HLL] garden egg.
anya utitie 11 [HH LLLL] red eyes; squint- afiasi 11 [HHH] head-wife; first wife in the
eyes. household of a titled man.
anya ukwu 11 [HH HH] greed; covetousness. afiasi 11 [HI-IL] soldier-ant. var. agbisi.
anya uvie n [HH LLL] squint-eye. var. anya afiasf 11 [LHL] »ight; night-time. var. anyasi.
utie. anoli 11 [HLH] gladness; joy: rejoicing. var.
anya iifii 11 [HH LH] envy; jealousy; Lit: pain anwoli.
in the eye. anii 11 [HH] bee; honey.
anyali 11 [LLL] albino. anii n [HH] whip: cane: rope. var. ana.
anyanwii 11 [HHL] sun; Lit: eye of sun. anuli n [HL HLH] happiness; joy: rejoicing;
anyari 11 [LLL] albino. gladness. vat: aiiiir'i.
anyasi 11 [LHL] night; night-time. *See "anya afiiil]' n [HLH] (Onica) happiness.joy; rejoic-
ucici" = night-time. mg .
anyi pm [HH] we; ourselves - ol1weanyi> we afiiirf 11 [HLH] (Owere) happiness; joy; re-
ourselves. joicing; gladness.
anyi(m) 11 [LLL] female person; woman. apa 11 [HH] dispute.
anyike 11 [HLH] axe. var. ayike; onyike. apa 11 [LH] . unbelief.
anyim 11 [LLL] female tortoise. var. anim; apa 11 [LH] Y-shaped metal coin which re-
aniim. placed the hoe-shaped metal coin, "arryii,"
anyim 11 [LLL] river. used in the Arocukwu/Bende area.
anyinya 11 [LLL] horse. var. inyinya. apa n [LH] raffia palm win: wine of inferior
anyinya ibu 11 [LLL HH] donkey; ass: beast quality collected from felled "ngwo". var.
of burden. akpa. *See "eruru"; "ngwo" = raffia wine .
anyii 11 [HH] cucumber; melon; pumpkin. apa 11 [LL] scar from healed wound - onya
anyii 11 [HH] axe. naa, apa ra adaa alia = the wound may heal,
anyii n [HH] hoe-shaped metal coin used in hut the scar never goes all·a)'.
the Arocukwu/Bende area; replaced by "apa' apa n [LL] swollen spleen: disease of the

24
apa Igbo-English aro

spleen. by dog-bite. vur. ala nkita,

apa 11 [LL] laziness. ara nkita 11 [HH HHL] shrubby climbing plant
apa 11 [LL] thigh. var . apata. with white-to-pink flowers (D. saxatilis) .
apa 11 [LL] 'an insect or winged beetle that araba n [HHH] (aka) hardwood used by
breeds in oil palm flower; 2the pupa of the • smiths to make handles for metal tools
beetle. (Griljonia Bauai).
apali n [LLL] 'rope, secured atthe ankle, used art 11 [LH] 'filaria, a parasite that attacks the
for climbing trees; different from "ete" which eyes ; 2hookwonn. 1'(/1'. ali; arir].
secures the climber around the waist; "ex- ari n [LL] early morning meal : breakfast; meal
posed root of iroko tree. - gbaa ari - break fast . "See "ucu" = break-
apart n [LLL] (alii) ropefor climbing trees. fast.
var . abali. ar'i n [Ll.] hook. "See .. fiko' = hook .
apart 11 [LLL] foolishness. ar'i igbe 11 [LH HL] plant which gives out a
apata 11 [LLL] thigh; whole leg. var. apa: fragrant smell when burnt: used both as medi-
apata iikwii. cine and as seasoning.
apata iikwii 11 [Ll.L HH] thigh; whole leg. ari' nze // [LH Ll.] but for the grace oL .: thanks
var. apa; apata. to ... - ari n: e Cukwu = bv the grace ofGod
apl 11 [Ll.] uncircumcised man, ... : i.e.. things would have been awful butfor
apia 11 [HHH] uncircumcised penis ; foreskin, Gocl's sa ving g race.
intact over penis, aria 11 [HLL] personal or household property
apia n [HHH] I kind of bird; "beak of a bird . - jiri aria gbaa aka ebe = use household
apia mmiri n [HHH HHH] diver bird. ' property I.J"~ pledge.
ap'ip'i 11 [LLL] castrated he-goat var. apiri api; aria 11 [LLL] 'funnel, faucetorsimilarobject
mpipi, for collecting or transferring liquid; "flagon ,
aplpla 11 [HHHH] punishment; sanction. var . *See "ogbanaga = funnel.
op'ip'ia. arla mmiri n [LLL HLL] water jug - aria
ap'ip'ia n [HHHH] cane; whip. mmiri oki! = hot water kettle.
ap'ir'i ap'i 11 [Ll.L LH] castrated he-goat. VUI'. ar'ia mmiri okii 11 [lLL HLL HH] kettle: hot
apipi; mp'ip'ia. water kettle.
apiti n [HLL] mire ; mud. arikwa 11 [LHH] intestinal worm.
ap'ito 11 [HLL] mud: mire. var. ap'iti. artlrka n [HLHH] ship's anchor - tiipiisiri
apdnli 11 [LHL] (Uzuakoli) first hair on ba- arilika 11 'ile = cast of] the anchors (Acts
by's head; baby hair, var. aba Inya; abonh . 27:40) ,
apopa 11 [lHH] canoe paddle. ariri' 11 [HHH] (Owere) centipede: millipede;
apii n [HH] silk-cotton tree . snake . 1'((1' . alil'i. *See "esu = millipede.
apii ji n [HH H] white yam. ar'ir'i n [LHH] filaria, a parasite that attacks
apiipa 11 [LHH] species of fish (Teta/pia (?)) , the eyes. var. ali; ari.
apiipa n [LLH] groundnut; peanut. arlr'i n [LLL] (Owere) 'undeserved agony;
ara n [HH] breast-ikeara= lobeofthe breast. extreme grief: misfortune; sorrow - arii'i' ka
var. ala. nj o = the worst suffering is undeserved
ara n [HH] madness; mental illness; insanity; agollY: "public humiliation, or grave insult.
dementia. var. ala. var. alill.
ara n [LL] gimlet; skewer; yam fork . arir'i 11 [LLL] feeling ofguilt or remorse: com-
ara aka 11 [Ll, HH] 'tributary; arm or branch punction.
(e .g . of river); 2inlet - ara aka osimiri = sea ar'ir'iij n [HLHH] plea: prayer; request ,
inlet. var. ala aka. ard 11 [HH] dream. 1'111'. nro .
ara enu n [HH HH] (Owere) colostrum; arb 11 [HL] advice: suggestion. var. alo.
mother's first milk after delivery. var. ala ard /1 [HL] year. var. afb; ahd,
enu . arb 11 [HL] walking-stick.
ara nkita n [HH HHL] rabies; madness caused aro 11 [HL] arrow; ceremonial spear; spear.

25
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
jutted out into the deep-blue bosom of Lone Lake—a beautiful sheet
of water, nine miles long and half as wide, and situated twenty-five
hundred feet above the level of the sea—at least, that was what the
young surveyors at the Montford Academy said.
George gazed upon its mirror-like surface as one gazes upon the
face of a friend from whom he has long been separated. It had
yielded him and his mother a support and kept a roof over their
heads for two long years, and it was his main dependence now.
If any one had told him, that before the sun had again been
reflected in those calm waters half a score of times, some scenes
would be enacted there that would change the whole course of his
life, George would not have put the least faith in the statement; but it
would have been the truth, nevertheless.
 CHAPTER IV.
A HOME IN THE WOODS.

H aving taken time to cool off and recover his breath, George once
more lifted his bundle to his shoulder and resumed his journey.
He had not more than two miles to go now, and as he followed the
beach, where the walking was good, it took him but a short time to
cover the distance.
The next time he threw down his bundle it was in front of a snug
little cabin, built of rough logs, and situated on a little rise of ground
that commanded a fine view of the lake.
“Things are all right outside,” said George to himself, as he took a
key from his pocket and inserted it into the padlock with which the
heavy slab door was secured; “and that is something to wonder at.
There are lots of mean boys in the village, and I was afraid that some
of them had been up here during my absence. Everything seems to be
all right inside, too,” he added, as the door swung open and the
interior of the cabin was disclosed to view.
George stepped across the threshold as he spoke, and this was
what he saw: A room twelve or thirteen feet square, with a heavy,
ungainly-looking scow turned bottom upward in the middle of it; a
wide fire-place with a stick chimney and a stone hearth; over it a
rough mantelpiece, on which stood a lamp and several books; at the
opposite end an open cupboard piled with bright tin dishes; under
the cupboard a table and two or three stools, all made of slabs—and
neatly made, too; in a corner, near the door, a pair of oars and a
small sprit-sail made of unbleached muslin; and lastly, a cord
hammock, with two quilts, as many blankets, and a pillow in it.
There was no floor in the cabin, and neither were there any
windows. The ground, which was almost as hard as the stone that
formed the hearth, was easily kept clean, and the door, being allowed
to stand open during the daytime, except in very stormy weather,
admitted all the light that was necessary.
Some boys would have thought this a very cheerless and uninviting
home, and so it was, but it was the only one George had. He had lived
in the hope of some day being able to provide himself with a better.
“There’s one thing about it,” thought the boy, as he placed several
sticks of round wood upon the ground and made preparations to roll
the heavy scow out of the cabin, “I am my own master. There is no
one to tell me what I shall do and what I shall not do, and all the
money I make is my own. If I had agreed to Uncle Ruben’s
proposition, I should have to go hungry and half clad, listen to a
scolding from Aunt Polly Ann every hour in the day, and now and
then I’d have to take a cowhiding from Uncle Ruben. I’d much rather
live here alone than with them, and I don’t care if I never see—”
George’s soliloquy was interrupted by a sound that startled him—
the clatter of a horse’s hoofs on the gravelly beach. He looked out at
the door, and was astonished to see Uncle Ruben riding toward the
cabin.
If one might judge by the expression of his face he was in very
good humor about something. Dismounting, he drew the bridle-rein
over his horse’s head, and dropped it to the ground so that the
animal could not stray away, at the same time greeting his nephew
with:
“Well, George, I don’t reckon you expected to see me ag’in so soon,
did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” replied the boy.
And Uncle Ruben would have been dull, indeed, if he had not been
able to see that he was not wanted there.
“I didn’t expect to see you, nuther,” continued the man, seating
himself on the scow, which had been rolled part way through the
door. “But I thought mebbe I’d better have another leetle talk with
you—”
“It’s of no use,” said George—“of no use whatever. If I had to live in
the same house with you, I would not work for you for fifty dollars a
month—”
 —“another leetle talk with you,” repeated Uncle Ruben, paying no
heed to the interruption, “for I think you will be willin’ to listen to me
now.”
“Well, you are mistaken. I shall never agree to your proposition. I
know you too well.”
“I wouldn’t git up on a high hoss, if I was in your place. ’Tain’t
becomin’,” said Uncle Ruben, in a significant tone. “Hold on now,” he
added, seeing that George’s face began to flush with indignation. “I
ain’t speakin’ of what your father’s done. I’m speakin’ of what you
have done yourself.”
“I have done nothing to be ashamed of. I have tried to behave
myself, and to deserve the respect of those around me. I have always
made an honest living—”
“Have you, though? Well, there’s them right here in this town as
says you hain’t,” interrupted Uncle Ruben, with a triumphant air.
“Oh, I know that there are those who make a business of saying all
sorts of unkind things about me,” answered George, in a voice that
was choked with indignation, “but all they can say will not alter the
facts of the case. I say now, and I don’t care who disputes it—”
He suddenly paused, for there was an expression in his uncle’s
eyes that he could not understand. He looked steadily at him for a
moment, and then seated himself on the other end of the scow.
“There, now!” said Uncle Ruben, in a tone of satisfaction. “I kinder
thought that mebbe you’d be willin’ to listen to reason after while.
It’s the gospel truth, an’ folks do say it.”
“What do they say?”
“They say they don’t know where you got the money you used to
spend at the store for the oranges an’ trash you used to buy for your
mother.”
“Well, if you hear anybody asking any questions about it, you can
just tell them, for me, that it’s none of their business!” replied
George, angrily.
“But folks’ll make it their business. You can’t expect that they’ll
stand by an’ let their stores be broke into an’ robbed, an’ their butter
an’ chickens stole, without making a fuss about it. Don’t stand to
reason.”
 “Uncle Ruben, explain yourself,” said George, jumping to his feet.
“You don’t mean to tell me—”
“Yes, I do,” broke in the man, who knew what his nephew was
about to say. “Everybody knows that you have been spendin’ a heap
of money sence your father was locked up, an’ that you didn’t make it
by sellin’ fish an’ berries.”
“How did I make it, then?” asked George, who was utterly
bewildered.
“How can I tell? I don’t know where all that nice butter an’ them
fine chickens an’ silk goods went to. True, that’s jest what folks say
about you,” continued Uncle Ruben, who saw that George was
almost overwhelmed by the hints he had thrown out, “an’ they’ll keep
on sayin’ it as long as you live up here in this wild Injun fashion. Your
Aunt Polly Ann, who sets a heap of store by you, has been to the
trouble of fixin’ up a nice bedroom for you, an’ I promised her, sure,
that I’d bring you home with me.”
“Well, when you see her again, tell her that the reason that you
didn’t keep your promise was because I wouldn’t go home with you,”
said George.
“You won’t? You’d better. Jest see how people are talkin’ about
you.”
“Let them talk until they get tired, and then, perhaps they will
stop. I’ll not go,” declared George, shortly.
“But you must. I’ve set my heart on it, an’ so has your Aunt Polly
Ann.”
“I can’t help that.”
“The constable might come up here an’ arrest you for a thief.”
“I know he might, but he won’t. At any rate, I’ll take the risk. Now,
Uncle Ruben, you might as well understand, first as last, that you
can’t scare me into going home with you. Let me shove the boat out,
please. There is a storm coming up, and I want to go out on the lake
and catch some fish for supper before it gets here.”
“Well, George,” said Uncle Ruben, as he arose to his feet, “I have
tried to do my duty by you. I have offered you a good home, an’ give
you fair warnin’ of what will be sartin to happen to you if you hold to
your fool notion of livin’ up here all alone by yourself. Folks will
think there’s something wrong somewhere.”
“They needn’t trouble themselves about me. Let them attend to
their own business, and I will attend to mine.”
“If you git into trouble through your mulishness, you mustn’t
blame me for it.”
“I won’t. Good-by!”
“He’s a bad boy—a monstrous bad boy!” soliloquized Uncle Ruben,
as he mounted his horse and rode away; “an’ he’ll surely come to
some bad end, jest as his father did before him. He shan’t stay up
here wastin’ his time when he had oughter be at work, an’ that’s all
there is about it.”
George watched his uncle as long as he remained in sight, and then
went to work to get his scow into the water. He was surprised and
bewildered, but he was not frightened, for he could not bring himself
to believe that the man had told him the truth. What reason could
anybody have for saying that he was the thief whose depredations
had caused so great an excitement in the village?
“Uncle Ruben made it all up out of his own head,” said George to
himself, as he pushed the scow into the water and made the painter
fast to a convenient tree, “and it is only one of the many mean tricks
of which I know him to be guilty. The village people know where I
live, and if they suspect me, let them come up here and find some of
the stolen goods in my possession. That’s a thing they can’t do.”
Consoling himself with this reflection, George went into the cabin
again, and when he came out he brought out with him the oars
belonging to the scow, and also a stout fishing-rod. It was not a
jointed lancewood rod, with German-silver mountings, wound butt,
and nickel-plated reel-seat, but simply a hickory sapling he had cut
in the bushes.
George could not afford a fancy outfit, and this rod, which had cost
him nothing at all, answered the purpose for which it was intended,
and if he chanced to break it while playing a heavy fish, he could in
five minutes provide himself with another just as good.
Having filled his box with bait, which he found under a log behind
the cabin, George stepped into his scow and pushed her off from the
beach.
 Just then a loud peal of thunder echoed among the hills, and the
smooth surface of the lake was ruffled by the first breath of the
oncoming storm. A thick, black cloud which had been hanging in the
horizon all day long, was now rising rapidly, and, during the five
minutes that George had been employed in getting his boat into the
water and digging his bait, it had covered the whole sky.
It was growing dark, and the lake looked black and threatening. It
was a treacherous body of water—a capful of wind was enough to
raise a sea that would try almost any boat—and George knew better
than to trust himself upon it while a gale was raging.
“I guess I don’t want any fish for supper,” said he, as he shifted his
oar to the other side of the boat, and pushed her back toward the
beach. “I shall have to be satisfied with what I brought with me in my
bundle. It’s going to be a hard one,” he added, as a strong gust of
wind lifted his hat from his head and carried it toward the cabin;
“and I thank my lucky stars that I have a tight roof to shelter me.
What in the world was that?”
Having drawn his scow high up on the beach, and fastened the
painter securely to a tree, George ran to recover his hat; and just
then, something that sounded like a cry for help came faintly to his
ears.
Believing that the appeal came from the woods, George listened
intently, and in a few seconds the cry was repeated. This time the
wind brought it to him very plainly, and he caught the words:
“Help! help! Our boat is sinking!”
George looked in the direction from which the voice sounded, and
was greatly astonished as well as alarmed, to see a cockle-shell of a
boat dancing about among the waves, which had already grown to
formidable proportions. While he gazed, she sank out of sight, and
nothing but the top of the little shoulder-of-mutton sail she carried
in the bow remained in view to show that she was still above water.
 CHAPTER V.
A CAPSIZE.

G eorge Edwards held his breath in suspense. The hull of the little
craft was so long out of sight that he began to fear he would
never see it again; but, all of a sudden, it bobbed up as buoyantly as a
cork, and once more that frantic appeal for assistance was borne
across the lake.
George was now able to see that there were two boys in the boat.
One was clinging to the mast, waving his handkerchief over his head
as a signal of distress, and the other was seated in the stern, wielding
a clumsy-looking paddle, with which he endeavored to keep the boat
before the wind.
George looked at them, and then he looked toward the promontory
on which he had stopped to rest when he first reached the lake.
This promontory was about fifty feet in height, and its base was
thickly lined with rocks, over which the waves were dashing with
great violence, throwing the spray high in the air. It was not more
than half a mile distant, and the wind was driving the boat toward it
with fearful rapidity.
“What lunatics those fellows must be to venture out on this lake
when they don’t know how to manage a boat!” exclaimed George. “If
they hold that course they will be dashed to pieces on the rocks, as
sure as they are living boys.” Then, bringing his hands to his face,
and using them as a speaking-trumpet, he shouted with all the power
of his lungs, “Haul down your sail and pull for the beach!”
The boy who was holding on to the mast waved his signal of
distress over his head, and then the boat sank out of sight again.
When she reappeared, George once more shouted to her crew to
haul down the sail, at the same time striving to warn them of their
danger by pointing toward the rocks and beckoning to them to come
ashore.
But his instructions must have been misunderstood, or else the
boat’s crew could not obey them, for their little craft kept driving on
toward the rocks, while one of the boys continued to wave his
handkerchief, and the other to ply his clumsy paddle.
It was plain that they could not save themselves, and that George
was the only one who could render them any assistance. The boy’s
face grew pale when this fact flashed upon him, but it wore a very
determined look.
“It’s almost certain death,” said he, as he cast off the painter and
pushed the scow into the water; “but I can at least make the attempt.
If I go under, there is nobody to miss me.”
Pushing his scow through the surf, and wading until the water was
nearly up to his waist, George clambered in, shipped the oars, and
pulled out into the lake.
When Uncle Ruben was at the cabin, he had shown a disposition to
turn up his nose at his nephew’s boat, which was the boy’s own
handiwork; but if he could have seen how she behaved now, he
would have learned that she was much better than she looked to be.
Being broad of beam and light of draught, she seemed to skim over
the top of the waves instead of breaking through them, and, heavy as
she was, George was able to send her ahead with considerable speed.
He rowed fast enough to intercept the sailboat when she was
within less than a quarter of a mile of the threatening rocks and then
he found, greatly to his surprise, that she was a canoe, so lightly
built, apparently, that a boy of ordinary strength could take her on
his back and walk off with her with all ease.
She was making bad weather of it, for she was half-full of water,
and every time she struck a wave she would bury her nose in it
almost out of sight. If her two occupants realized the danger of their
situation, they did not show it. They were as cool as boys could
possibly be.
The one in the bow watched George’s movements with a good deal
of interest, while the dignified young fellow in spectacles, who was
sitting in the stern and using the butt of his double-barrel for a
paddle, issued his orders with great calmness and deliberation.
 “Bring your boat around head to the wind, if you can, and let us
come alongside of you,” said he, addressing himself to George. “You
will have to do all the work, for I have lost my paddle; and if the
canoe should broach to, we’d be tumbled out into the lake before you
could say ‘General Jackson’ with your mouth open.”
George saw at a glance that the dignified young gentleman knew
how to handle a canoe, and that in keeping the sail hoisted he was
doing the best that could be done under the circumstances. If he had
attempted to make the beach, he would have brought his cranky little
craft broadside to the waves, and, having no centre-board, and
scarcely any bearing, she would have been overturned in an instant,
leaving her crew to sink, or drift helplessly toward the rocks.
That very thing did happen to her soon. Although George tried
hard to place himself directly across her bows, the canoe shot wild of
him; and in his efforts to bring her alongside the scow, the skipper
lost control of her, and over she went, turning completely bottom
upward.
The rocks were now but a short distance away, and the noise made
by the waves as they dashed over them was enough to frighten
anybody. George was frightened, and his pale face showed it.
It would have been a work of no little difficulty to row a light boat
away from that dangerous spot; but to wait there long enough to pick
up a couple of boys who were tossed about by the waves, now here,
now there, and always just out of reach, to rescue them and then save
himself, was a task requiring great skill and prudence.
George looked at the rocks and then he looked about for the
canoe’s crew. To his great joy they arose to the surface, one after the
other, and they were close ahead of him, too. One was near enough to
seize the gunwale of the scow, while the other promptly laid hold of
the oar that was thrust out toward him.
“Where’s Goggles?” asked the first, wiping the water out of his
eyes, and looking around to find his companion.
“He’s all right!” answered George. “Climb in—quick! Not over the
side, for your weight will capsize the scow. Go around to the stern. Be
lively now, or the waves will throw us on the rocks.”
The boy looked toward the breakers, but the sight of them did not
seem to terrify him in the least. He worked his way around to the
stern, climbed into the scow, and then turned to assist his
companion, who was clinging to the oar with one hand, while in the
other he held a light double-barreled shotgun.
“Say, Goggles!” said the boy in the boat; “I am just a hundred
dollars out of pocket, by this day’s work. Give us your gun. Mine is at
the bottom of the lake. I told you your cranky little egg-shell wasn’t
seaworthy!”
“The canoe is all right, so far as her seagoing qualities are
concerned,” was the reply. “If I hadn’t lost my paddle overboard, she
would have taken us ashore without shipping so much as a cupful of
water. But we have taken our last ride in her. She will be smashed
into kindling-wood on those rocks.”
“Haul him in! haul him in!” cried George, in great excitement. “We
shall be smashed into kindling-wood, too, if we don’t get out of this!
Now, then,” he continued, as the boy who had been addressed as
“Goggles” was dragged aboard, “take an oar, one of you, and pull for
your life.”
The boys had no light task before them, and if Goggles had not
been a capital oarsman, it is hard to tell how the struggle would have
ended.
For a long time the heavy boat seemed to remain stationary. With
all their exertions, they could make no perceptible headway; but
finally they began to gain a little, and, after half an hour’s hard
pulling, they succeeded in beaching the scow about half-way between
the promontory and the cabin.
George landed there, because he thought it would be easier to walk
a quarter of a mile than it would be to pull the boat that distance
against the wind and the waves.
“Now, then,” said Goggles, as he and his companion assisted in
securing the boat, so that it would not drift away; “the next thing is
something else. A fire to dry our clothes by and something good to
eat, would be very acceptable just now. Do you live far from here, my
friend?”
“Only a short distance away,” answered George. “If you will go up
to my shanty, you can have both the fire and the supper. I can’t
promise you that the grub will be very good—”
 “Say nothing about that,” interrupted Goggles. “I hope we shall not
put your folks to any trouble.”
“No,” replied George, sadly; “you’ll not put them to any trouble.”
Then, seeing the expression of surprise and inquiry on the faces of
the rescued boys, he added, “I am my own cook and housekeeper. I
am living up here alone.”
“Oh, you’re out for a holiday, then! You came here to hunt and
fish, I suppose?”
“Yes, I came here to fish; but I am not taking a holiday. It’s a
matter of bread and butter with me.”
“You don’t say so! Can’t you find anything to do in the village?”
“No, I can’t,” replied George.
But he did not tell the boy the reason why.
“Well, there’s no use in standing here in the rain any longer. Let’s
go up to your ‘shanty,’ as you call it. You have rendered us a most
important service,” said Goggles, with much feeling, as he took
George’s hand in both his own and shook it warmly. “I never saw
anybody exhibit as much pluck as you have shown to-day. What can
we do for you?”
“Take a big bite while you are about it,” said the other boy, who
had stood by, listening in silence to this conversation. “We owe our
lives to you.”
“You owe me nothing but your good-will,” replied George. “I am
sure you would have done as much for me.”
“I don’t know about that,” replied Goggles, as the three hurried up
the beach toward the cabin. “One needs courage, and a good share of
it, too, to enable him to go deliberately into danger for the sake of
helping somebody; and that’s a quality I don’t pretend to possess.
Now, perhaps you would like to know who we are. My friend here is
Bob Howard, and he lives away out of the world, in a place called
Arizona. I am Dick Langdon, at your service, and live in a white
man’s country, my home being in Connecticut.”
“There’s where the wooden nutmegs come from!” observed Bob
Howard.
“My name is George Edwards, and I live there,” said our hero,
pointing to the cabin, which was now in plain sight.
 It looked mean and forbidding now. It was good enough for him,
for he had never been accustomed to luxurious surroundings; but, if
there was any faith to be put in appearances, the boys who were to be
his guests until the storm was over, were the sons of wealthy parents,
and he thought they would look out of place under his humble roof.
He did not then know that one of them was more familiar with life
in the woods than he was, and that he had many a time been glad to
crawl into a hollow log for shelter. George didn’t know, either, that
his life and Bob Howard’s were destined to run along in the same
channel, and that they were to be the heroes of an adventure that is
talked of on the frontier until this day; but such was the fact.
 CHAPTER VI.
DICK LANGDON’S SENTIMENTS.

“W e are students at the Montford Academy,” said Dick

Langdon. “Yesterday we asked for a short leave of absence,
and came up here in search of fun and adventure.”
“And we got all we wanted of both!” chimed in Bob Howard. “Dick
lost his canoe, and I lost my gun, but we caught a splendid string of
fish, and I had a twenty-minute fight with a muskalonge, that I shall
remember as long as I live.”
“You don’t say anything about the narrow escape we had from
having our brains dashed out on those rocks,” observed Dick.
“There’s no need that I should speak of that, for George knows as
much about it as we do. By-the-way, do you suppose the waves will
leave anything of that canoe? Our fishing-rods were stowed in one of
the lockers.”
“I am afraid you have seen them for the last time,” replied George.
“But I don’t think your gun is lost beyond recovery.”
“How shall we go to work to get it?”
“If the lake is quiet to-morrow, we can dive for it. I think I can go
right to the spot where your boat was capsized.”
“How deep is the water?”
“About thirty feet.”
“You don’t pretend to say that you can bring up bottom at that
depth, do you?”
“Oh, yes! I can go deeper than that, when I have a high place to
take a plunge from.”
“Well, you are better at diving than I am, and I will make it worth
your while to get that gun for me. I value it highly, for it was the last
thing my father gave me before I left my Western home to come to
this academy. So this is where you live, is it?” said Bob, as George
entered the cabin door and invited them to enter.
Wood was already laid upon the hearth, and it was but the work of
a moment to touch a lighted match to it and set it going.
Then George and his new friends pulled off some of their wet
clothes, and, having wrung the water out of them, they hung them
over the stools to dry.
The fire was soon blazing merrily, and, as the boys turned
themselves slowly about in front of it and listened to the howling of
the storm and the beating of the rain on the roof, they felt a sense of
comfort and security that was decidedly refreshing after their recent
experience.
“Now, isn’t this glorious?” said Dick Langdon, adjusting his
spectacles and spreading his hands over the warm blaze. “I believe
there must be some Indian about me, for do you know, fellows, that I
have often thought I should like to live this way all my life?”
Without waiting for an answer, Dick straightened up, turned his
back to the fire and sung, in a clear, mellow voice:
“I’ve a home in the woods, the dark green woods,
’Neath the shade of the old oak tree,
Where the wild birds warble their songs of praise,
In tones so wild and free.
A lovely place is this home of mine—
A quiet, a dear little spot;
And over my casement the vine doth entwine,
Like an angel, to watch o’er my cot!”

“The sentiment is very fine, no doubt,” said Bob Howard. “But if

that dear little home of yours was covered with snow, so that you
couldn’t stir out of it for months; and your firewood gave out, and the
wolves came and serenaded you every day and glared down at you
through the chimney; and your provisions run short, and you saw
starvation staring you in the face! I tell you what’s a fact, Dick; I
know something about that. There has been a good deal of nonsense
written about life in the woods. You could not stand it three months.”
“I’d like to try,” said Dick.
 “I’ll change places with you,” said George. “I’ll give you my house,
if you will give me your seat at the academy.”
“Would you like to go there?”
“Indeed I would.”
“Then, why don’t you go?”
George was so surprised at this question, that he did not reply to it.
Why didn’t he go? Where were his guest’s eyes and ears? Would
he, or any other boy, who was in full possession of his senses, be
likely to make a hermit of himself from choice?
Of course, he could not tell them that he had no money to pay for
four years’ tuition at the academy, and so he held his peace; but his
silence told his new friends all they wanted to know, and they then
and there made up their minds to act accordingly.
After the two boys had warmed themselves and dried their
clothing, Dick proceeded to overhaul his gun, and Bob assisted
George in laying the table and preparing supper.
It was not much the latter had to place before his guests—nothing
but bread and butter, a few vegetables and a cup of tea; but there
were half a dozen young squirrels in Bob’s game-bag, which the
owner had saved simply because it happened to be slung over his
shoulder when the canoe was capsized; and when these had been
cleaned and roasted over the coals, the meal was ready.
George’s long walk had given him a good appetite, and the ducking
Dick and Bob had received must have had a similar effect upon them,
for the edibles rapidly disappeared, and in a few minutes every bone
had been picked clean.
“How did you two fellows happen to find your way to this lonely
region?” asked George, as he threw more wood on the fire and drew
one of the stools into the chimney corner.
“Oh, we have often heard of this lake and the fine fishing that
could be enjoyed here, if one had a boat to go about in; so I sent
home for my canoe,” replied Dick Langdon. “When it came, we hired
a team to bring us and our trappings up here, and asked the
professor for a holiday. We are to go back to-morrow night, for no
student is allowed to be away from the village over Sunday, unless he
is known to be at home, where he can’t get into mischief.”
 “Where is your camp?”
“We haven’t any. We slept in Mr. Stebbins’ barn last night.”
“In his barn!” repeated George. “Why didn’t you go into the
house?”
“Because the old fellow wouldn’t let us,” said Dick, with a laugh.
“We gave him abundant proof that we were able to pay for our
supper and lodging, but he would not listen to us.”
“And while he was talking to us, he held the door open just about
two inches,” observed Bob. “He acted as if he was afraid of us.”
“Very likely he was,” said George. “If all reports are true, he’s got a
pile of money hidden away somewhere in his house.”
“Ah, that accounts for his suspicions, then. For a while, we thought
we would have to stay out of doors all night,” continued Dick; “but
finally, the old fellow said we might sleep on the hay, if we wouldn’t
smoke. And just before dark he brought us a mouthful of bread and
butter and about half a pint of milk.”
“And charged us a dollar for it!” said Bob, in a tone of disgust.
“He’s a regular old skin-flint. But if he keeps so much money in the
house, I shouldn’t think he and his wife would want to live there
alone. If some tramp should happen to find it out, it might be bad for
them, for they are too old to defend themselves, and there isn’t
another house on the lake—is there?”
“Yes, there is one at the lower end,” replied George; “but I am his
nearest neighbor.”
When bedtime came, George spread all his quilts and blankets on
the floor in front of the fire, and he and his guests went to sleep,
lulled by the howling of the storm, which continued to rage with
unabated fury until long after midnight; but the morning broke
bright and clear, and at the first peep of day the boys were astir.
They looked out at the door, and saw that the lake was as smooth
as a mill-pond. There was nothing to prevent them from making an
attempt to recover Bob Howard’s lost fowling-piece.
“But first, I must have a good breakfast of fish,” said that young
gentleman. “We lost those we caught yesterday, but fortunately, I
have both hooks and lines in one of the pockets of my game-bag.”
 “And there’s an axe, and you will find plenty of poles behind the
cabin,” said George, “While you are cutting them, I will go down and
bring up the scow.”
“Did you save any cartridges?” asked Dick Langdon, who stood just
outside the door, with his head turned on one side, as if he were
listening intently.
“I did; and as they are loaded in water-proof cases, they are not
injured in the least.”
“Well, your gun is the same calibre as mine, and if you will give me
some of those cartridges, I’ll see if I can get a squirrel or two for
breakfast. I hear one barking out there in the woods.”
Bob handed his game-bag to Dick, who slung it over his shoulder
and set out in search of the squirrels, while George hurried down the
beach to bring up the scow.
By the time he returned, Bob had rigged a pole and dug a supply of
bait; and when he had got into the boat, George pulled him to the
nearest fishing-ground.
“There’s nothing like knowing where to go to find the best places,”
said Bob, half an hour later, as he surveyed with no little satisfaction,
the fine string of yellow perch which was floating in the water
alongside the scow. “Yesterday, Dick and I tried all the likely spots
along the opposite shore, but we didn’t get a bite until we got down
to the lower end of the lake.”
“That was because you didn’t understand the habits of the fish,”
replied George. “When the season first opens, you will find them
along the beach, just outside the weeds; but as the weather grows
warmer, they draw off into deep holes, and at this time of the year
you will find the best fishing in about forty feet of water.”
While Bob was engaged in hauling in the perch, almost as fast as
he could bait his hook, Dick Langdon was not idle. His gun spoke at
short intervals, and as Dick was a fine marksman, he did not throw
away a single charge of shot.
When the fishermen returned to the cabin, they found him sitting
on a log in front of it, with half a dozen gray squirrels at his side. He
might have secured as many more if he had felt so disposed, but
being a thorough-bred young sportsman, he did not believe in killing
more game than he could use.
 Breakfast was soon cooked and eaten, and then Dick and Bob
announced that they were ready to see George make an attempt to
recover the lost fowling-piece.
The lake being quiet, they had a fair view of the rocks on which
they had so narrowly escaped being wrecked, and they shuddered as
they looked at them.
 CHAPTER VII.
A PERSEVERING DIVER.

B ob rowed the boat, George stood in the bow, divested of his

clothing and all ready to make the plunge, and Dick sat in the
stern and looked at the rocks.
“I tell you, they look ugly!” said he, with another involuntary
shudder. “If it hadn’t been for you, George, there would have been
two vacant seats at the Montford Academy next Monday. What’s that
wedged in between those two high rocks, a little to the left of the
point? It looks to me like a piece of my lost canoe.”
“That’s just what it is!” answered George, “We’ll go up there and
take a look at it as soon as I find out whether or not I am going to get
that gun. We are pretty near the spot now. Steady! There!”
As Bob ceased rowing and faced about on his seat, there was a
splash in the water, and George had disappeared. He was gone a
good while—so long that the two boys who were awaiting the result
of his experiment, began to look at each other with some uneasiness.
At length, Dick asked suddenly:
“I say, Bob, what are you going to give him if he finds your gun for
you?”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to speak to you about,” was Bob’s
reply. “I don’t think it would be quite the thing to offer him money,
for he doesn’t look to me like a boy who would go to all this trouble
for the sake of earning a reward.”
“That’s my opinion, and I will tell you what I have been thinking
of. You know he said he would like to go to the academy; and he said
it in a way that led me to believe that the only obstacle that stands in
his way is a lack of money. Now you and I have more spare change
than we can use, and if you will pay half his tuition, I’ll pay the other
half. He needn’t know that we’re doing anything for him, for I have
an idea that he would refuse—”
Before Dick could finish his sentence, George’s head bobbed up
out of the water, a short distance away; but the only thing he brought
with him was a handful of gravel, to show that he had been to the
bottom.
A few long, sweeping strokes brought him alongside the boat. He
climbed in over the bow, and, after taking a moment’s breathing
spell, he went down again.
This time he was gone longer than before, and Dick and Bob had
ample leisure to decide upon something.
What it was, you will learn as our story progresses.
The second attempt to recover the lost weapon resulted in failure,
and so did the third and fourth; but the fifth was successful. A hand,
grasping the little double-barrel, suddenly appeared above the
surface of the water, followed an instant after by the persevering
diver, who was as highly elated over his achievement as Bob Howard
was himself.
“George,” said he, as he grasped the gun and began rubbing it
briskly with his handkerchief, “I don’t know how to thank you for the
service you have rendered me.”
“Then you had better not try,” advised George, with a laugh.
“That’s a beautiful little piece, and well worth saving. Now, I wish I
could give Dick his canoe in good order.”
“Thank you! But that is something that nobody this side of Troy
can do. She is made of paper.”
George, who had never before heard of such a thing as a paper
canoe, opened his eyes and looked incredulous; but when he had
pulled over to the rocks and taken a look at the wreck that was
stranded there, he found that Dick had told him nothing but the
truth. The little craft had been torn completely in two. The stern was
nowhere to be seen, and the bow was wedged so tightly between the
rocks that they could not get it out.
“I say, Bob, take the butt of your oar and break a hole through the
bottom,” said Dick. “Perhaps we shall find something in there.”
And so they did.
 Through the opening that Bob’s heavy oar speedily made in the
frail covering he gained access to the forward locker, from which he
drew forth two jointed fishing-rods, and also a liberal supply of
canned goods, such as salmon, lobsters, condensed milk, and fried
brook trout.
He likewise brought to light a canister of ground coffee, about half
a peck of potatoes, and lastly, a water-proof bag, which, on being
opened, was found to contain a quantity of crackers, bread, and
ginger-snaps, and also two blackberry pies.
George looked on in wonder.
“Did I understand you to say that you are going back to the
academy to-night?” said he.
“You did,” assured Bob, panting from his exertions. “Why do you
ask?”
“I don’t wonder that you had to hire a team to bring you up here,”
continued George. “You had your canoe provisioned for a four-
weeks’ cruise.”
“That shows how much you know about an academy boy’s
appetite,” said Dick. “Whenever we go into the country for a holiday,
we always make our entertainers open their eyes. Find anything
more, Bob? Well, then, shove off. We’ll stop at the cabin long enough
to unload our cargo and give our poles a good rubbing, and then,
perhaps, George will be kind enough to show us where we can catch a
good string of bass. We don’t want to go back to the academy empty-
handed, you know; for if we do the fellows will laugh at us.”
George’s guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves that day.
Having caught a pailful of minnows for them, George rowed them
down to his favorite fishing-grounds, and by the time the fish
stopped biting they had sixteen black bass to show to the academy
boys as trophies of their skill.
George offered to increase the size of their string by adding to it
the fish he had caught himself—being an expert angler, he had
caught an even dozen while the others were catching sixteen—but
Dick and Bob would not listen to it. When they exhibited their fish
they wanted to be able to say that they had caught them all
themselves, and they couldn’t say that if they accepted any help from
George.
 The dinner that was served up in the cabin that afternoon was the
best that George had eaten for many a day, and he disposed of his
full share of it.
When they had satisfied their appetites, Dick and Bob began to get
ready to start for home.
“Now, George,” said the latter, as he shouldered his gun and
fishing-rod, which he had tied together so that they could be easily
carried, “how much do we owe you?”
“Not a red cent,” was George’s reply.
“Cheap enough,” said Dick. “We’ll come again.”
“I hope you will. I shall be glad to see you at any time—that is, if
you can be satisfied with such poor accommodations as I have to
offer you.”
“Say nothing about that!” exclaimed Bob. “What better
accommodations can we ask for than a tight roof, a good bed and
plenty to eat and drink?”
“And good hunting and fishing within a stone’s throw of your
door,” chimed in Dick. “You may expect us next Friday evening. We
can get away every week if we only behave ourselves during study
hours, and I am perfectly willing to be good for five consecutive days
for the sake of enjoying such squirrel shooting as I had this
morning.”
As the nearest way to the village was through Mr. Stebbins’ sheep
pasture, George took his guests across the lake in his boat, thus
saving them a three-mile walk.
After putting them on the road, and giving them explicit directions
regarding the course they were to follow in order to reach the
academy, George said good-by, and set out on his return to the lake;
but while he was crossing the sheep pasture he was confronted by
Mr. Stebbins, who, in no amiable tones, demanded to know what he
was doing there, and what business he had to bring those young
vagabonds on his grounds.
“They are not vagabonds,” replied George, with some spirit. “They
are gentlemen, and that is more than I can say for some other people
I know.”
 “I don’t want none of your sass!” snapped the old man, angrily, at
the same time whisking a heavy black snake whip he carried in his
hand. “I tell you that I don’t like the looks of them fellers.”
“I can’t help it, can I?” asked George.
“I never slept a wink t’other night,” continued Mr. Stebbins,
“’cause they was in my barn, an’ I was expectin’ every minute that
they would break into my house an’ rob me. I don’t want them to
come foolin’ round here no more. You hear me?”
“Yes, I hear you. They will be up here again next Friday night, and
I will tell them what you say.”
“Wal, they shan’t sleep in my barn ag’in, if they do come up here,
’cause I’m afeared of ’em. Why don’t they stay to home, where they
belong? They’ve got no ’arthly business up here. An’ I tell you
another thing I don’t like,” went on Mr. Stebbins, flourishing his
whip over his head. “Be you livin’ over there on t’other side of the
lake?”
The boy replied that he was.
“I thought so, ’cause I seed a smoke comin’ out of the chimbly.
Now I don’t want you nor nobody else over there, an’ I won’t have it,
nuther.”
“Is my cabin on your grounds?” questioned George.
“No, it ain’t,” said Mr. Stebbins, emphatically.
“Then you have nothing to say about it. I had permission from the
man who owns that land to build my cabin there, and so long as he
does not object, you have no right to complain.”
“Hain’t I though?” Mr. Stebbins almost shouted. “Wal, I shall ask
the selectmen about that. There’s a poorhouse pervided for them that
ain’t able to make an honest livin’ for themselves.”
“I am able to make an honest living,” said George, with no little
indignation in his tones, “and I shall not go to the poorhouse to
please anybody.”
“You ain’t your own boss yet by a few years,” reminded the man,
with a sneer; “an’ if you’re too stuck up to earn a livin’ by hard work,
like an honest boy had oughter do, you may find yourself in jail, the
first thing you know. I’ve been a-lookin’ for it, ’cause there’s been a
heap of stealin’—Wal, go on; but remember what I’m a-tellin’ you.”
 George, who was too angry to listen to another word, hurried down
to the beach, sprang into his boat, and pushed off into deep water.
His little cabin was lonely enough now. He missed his new friends,
whom he had learned to like during his short acquaintance with
them, and his interview with Mr. Stebbins had thrown a gloom over
him that he could not shake off.
 CHAPTER VIII.
UNCLE RUBEN CALLS AGAIN.

D uring the next few days, George was permitted to live in peace,
but we cannot say that he enjoyed himself, for at times he felt
very lonely, and bitter, too.
While other boys in the village were given every opportunity to
work their way up in the world, he had been driven into exile by force
of circumstances, and just now he did not see how he could better his
condition.
“I have heard people say that it is always darkest just before
daylight, and if that is the case, my day must be close at hand,”
George often said to himself. “Things couldn’t look darker to me than
they do now; but if a canal boy can become President, I don’t see why
a fisher-boy cannot become a decent, respected member of society, if
nothing more. I shall work hard for it, and if I fail, it will not be my
fault.”
Every other day George carried to the village a nicely-dressed
string of fish, for which he found ready sale, bringing back with him
such supplies as he happened to need.
He always found everything in and about the cabin just as he had
left it, and there was nothing to indicate that there had been any one
there during his absence.
But, for all that, there had been visitors at the cabin on two
different occasions. These visitors were in no way connected with
each other, although they had the same object in view, as we shall
presently see.
The first to come was a party of three boys—the same ones that
George had met at the spring a few days before, and who had
exhibited so much surprise and alarm at his sudden appearance.
 Two of them carried bundles under their arms, and the third was
provided with a spade.
That they did not want to be seen by anybody was evident. They
spent an hour or more in reconnoitering the premises. Having at last
fully satisfied themselves that George was nowhere in the vicinity,
they made their way behind the cabin, and the one who carried the
spade set to work to dig a hole in the ground.
This being done, the other two deposited their bundles in it, the
earth was thrown upon them, and finally dead leaves were spread
evenly over the spot, to hide all traces of their labor.
“That’s about the idea,” said one of the party. “We’ve put evidence
enough there to remove all suspicion from ourselves.”
“I don’t think much of it,” said another. “If those bundles should
be discovered before the rest of the work is done, it would spoil
everything.”
“So it would,” admitted the first speaker. “But we must not wait
long enough for that. We must pay our visit to Stebbins’ some night
this week. Besides, I don’t see that these bundles are in any
immediate danger of discovery. The constable won’t go to prowling
about there until we put him on the track.”
“And we must do that as soon as we can,” said the one who had not
spoken before; “for the sooner George is compelled to leave this
neighborhood, the better it will be for us. If he should happen to
stumble on our headquarters during his rambles, we might find
ourselves in a pretty mess.”
The boys left the cabin as cautiously as they had approached it.
And the next visitor who came was none other than Uncle Ruben,
who looked better natured now than he did the last time we saw him.
“I’ll fix him,” he kept muttering to himself. “I’ll l’arn him to throw
away the chance of a good home, when he might have had it jest as
well as not. I am his only livin’ relation, so to speak, an’ I had oughter
be his gardeen an’ have the profits of his work till he comes of age;
but he wouldn’t let me, an’ now I’ll put him where he’ll have to work
for nothing.”
Uncle Ruben also carried a bundle under his arm, and, as it was
not very neatly made up, the contents of it could have been named by
any one who had chanced to meet him on the road. The heads of a
couple of chickens, whose necks had been wrung, stuck out of one
end of it, while two pairs of yellow legs projected from the other.
The man made his appearance late on Friday afternoon. He was
not as stealthy in his movements as the first visitors were, for he
knew that the coast was clear, having seen his nephew sail up the
lake toward Mr. Stebbins’ farm.
What business the boy had up there Uncle Ruben did not know;
but of course his suspicions were aroused, and it was not long before
those suspicions gave way to positive conviction.
Having hitched his old clay-bank back in the bushes, out of sight,
Uncle Ruben hastened to the rear of the cabin, and, picking up a
sharp stick, he began raking away the leaves and digging in the
ground, thus making it evident that he was preparing a place of
concealment for the chickens he had brought with him.
By the merest accident he struck upon the very spot on which the
boys of whom we have spoken had hidden their bundles, and he was
not long in bringing them to light.
“What on ’arth is them?” soliloquized Uncle Ruben as the bundles
were thrown out of the hole one after the other.
His eyes opened to their widest extent, his under jaw dropped
down, and he seemed to be very much disconcerted by the discovery
he had made.
He looked all around to make sure that he was alone, and then,
after a moment’s hesitation, he dropped down on his knees and
began untying the strings with which the bundles were fastened.
The first was found to contain half a dozen new pocket-books, and
a bolt of fine linen that had never been cut; and the second was made
up principally of razors, revolvers, powder- and shot-flasks and jack-
knives.
“Now, I am astonished,” said Uncle Ruben; and the word he used
conveyed but a very faint idea of the bewilderment and confusion
into which his mind had been thrown by the sight of the articles
upon which he had so unexpectedly stumbled. “I never did b’lieve
that George was to blame for them stores bein’ broke into, but what
is a feller to think of this, I’d like to know?”
Right on the heels of this question came others that were just as
hard to answer.
 Should he put the bundles back as he found them, and let matters
take their own course? or, would it be better to await George’s return
and confront him with the evidence of his guilt, at the same time
promising never to lisp a word of it to anybody if the boy would
consent to be bound out to him until he was twenty-one years old?
“There’s objections to both them plans,” thought Uncle Ruben,
after he had spent some minutes in trying to find a way out of his
quandary. “George had oughter be punished for refusin’ to go home
with me like I wanted him to do, an’ if he is shut up for a thief I want
him to know that I had a hand in it. That’s what I bring them
chickens up here for. But if he is shut up, he won’t never come nigh
me arter he gets out, an’ I ain’t by no means sart’in that I want him
to; for, jest as like as not, he’ll go to stealin’ from me. Mebbe I had
better go home and sleep on it.”
Having come to this conclusion, Uncle Ruben hastily tied up the
bundles again, tossed them back into the hole and covered them up.
He had already wasted considerable time, and being anxious to
reach home before dark, he did not stop to bury the chickens. He
simply threw them into the bushes, marking the spot on which they
fell, so that he could easily find them again if circumstances should
require it, and then he mounted his horse and rode away.
Meanwhile, George Edwards was sitting on a log by the side of the
road that led from the village to Mr. Stebbins’ farm, waiting as
patiently as he could for the coming of his expected friends, Bob
Howard and Dick Langdon.
Remembering his last interview with the choleric old man, and the
orders he had given regarding his “vagabond” acquaintances, George
had landed with his scow in a little cove near the promontory, and
made his way by a roundabout course to the road, in order to
intercept his expected guests before they crossed the sheep pasture.
He did not want them to be insulted, as he knew they would be if
Mr. Stebbins should catch them on his grounds; but still he need not
have taken so much pains to prevent it, for he did not see Dick and
Bob that night.
He waited for them until long after dark, and then went back to his
boat and pulled for the cabin, feeling very lonely indeed.
 “I have looked forward to this night with many pleasurable
anticipations, and it is hard to be disappointed,” thought George.
“The shanty will look as gloomy now as it did last Saturday when
those fellows first went away. Well, I will hope for better luck next
week.”
George slept but little that night, and he was up the next morning
long before the sun.
Having lighted the fire, he opened the door, and the first objects
that attracted his attention, as he stepped across the threshold, were
two boys who were coming down the beach at a rapid walk. He
recognized them at a glance.
“There they are now!” he exclaimed, pulling off his hat and
swinging it about his head. “They have brought their guns and
fishing-rods with them, and each one has a pack of something on his
back. More provisions, I suppose. They haven’t come from the village
this morning, and consequently they must have laid out all night.”
The approaching boys answered his greeting by flourishing their
caps in the air, and George hastened to meet them, fully prepared to
laugh at them for losing their way, when the road that led from the
village to the lake was as plain as the beach they were then following;
but as he drew nearer to them he saw that something had gone
wrong with them.
Their faces were flushed, and their quick, nervous movements
showed that they were excited and angry.
“What’s the matter?” asked George. “And where did you stay last
night? Did you miss your way?”
“I should say so,” answered Bob, in a tone of deep disgust.
“And you had to stay in the woods, I suppose?”
“No, we didn’t. I wish to goodness we had. We camped in old
Stebbins’ barn; and ‘thereby hangs a tale’—one that will astonish you,
too.”
“I am very sorry you went near that barn,” said George. “If you had
come up here last night—I waited for you at the road until after dark
—I should have told you that the old fellow gave me fits for taking
you across his sheep pasture last Saturday. He had a good notion to
horsewhip me.”
 “He had a good notion to serve us worse than that this morning,”
said Dick Langdon. “But don’t waste any more time in standing here.
Bob and I went to bed without any supper to speak of, and we are as
hungry as wolves.”
While they were on their way to the cabin, George came to the
conclusion that his friends must have had a very animated interview
with Mr. Stebbins, during which the latter had said some things that
were in the highest degree exasperating; for they grumbled at him
every step they took, and gave full and free expression to the
opinions they had formed concerning him.
Having relieved himself of his heavy pack—a neat camper’s basket,
which was provided with straps like a soldier’s knapsack, and filled
so full of something that a cloth had been tied over the top to keep
the contents from falling out—and deposited his gun and fishing-rod
in one corner of the cabin, Bob Howard took possession of the bench
beside the door and said, abruptly, addressing himself to George:
“You remember of saying something to us about the money that
Mr. Stebbins is supposed to have hidden in his house, do you not?
Well, sir, three masked robbers came there last night and tried to get
it. At least, they tried to break into the house, and we suppose they
were after the money.”
George was profoundly astonished.
 CHAPTER IX.
LOST IN THE WOODS.

“I suppose you don’t know who the robbers were?” said George, as
soon as he had recovered his power of speech.
“No, we don’t,” answered Bob Howard. “They wore masks, as I told
you; and, besides, the night was so dark that we could not have
recognized our most intimate friends at the distance we were from
them.”
“The most provoking part of the whole business was this,” said
Dick Langdon. “After Bob and I became satisfied that the masked
parties, whoever they were, had come there for no good purpose, we
opened fire on them and drove them away. And what did the old
miser do to repay us for the assistance we rendered him?”
“Did he ask you in to breakfast?” inquired George, who knew very
well that he had done nothing of the kind.
“Not much!” was Dick’s reply. “If he had, we wouldn’t be as hungry
as we are now. We went to sleep on the hay, after we had frightened
the robbers away from the house, and the first thing we heard this
morning was a war-whoop, and the first thing we saw, after we had
got our eyes open, was old Stebbins, who was standing in the barn
door, with a shotgun in his hands.”
“It was pointed straight at my head, too,” said Bob; “and I really
thought, by the way the old fellow talked and acted, that he was going
to turn loose on me. I believe he would, too, if it hadn’t been for Dick,
who—You don’t understand it, do you?” he added, seeing that George
was greatly surprised and bewildered. “Sit down here, and I will
begin at the beginning, and tell you all about it. Breakfast can wait.”
Bob settled back into an easy position on the bench, while George
seated himself by his side, and listened with much interest to the
Welcome to Our Bookstore - The Ultimate Destination for Book Lovers
Are you passionate about books and eager to explore new worlds of
knowledge? At our website, we offer a vast collection of books that
cater to every interest and age group. From classic literature to
specialized publications, self-help books, and children’s stories, we
have it all! Each book is a gateway to new adventures, helping you
expand your knowledge and nourish your soul
Experience Convenient and Enjoyable Book Shopping Our website is more
than just an online bookstore—it’s a bridge connecting readers to the
timeless values of culture and wisdom. With a sleek and user-friendly
interface and a smart search system, you can find your favorite books
quickly and easily. Enjoy special promotions, fast home delivery, and
a seamless shopping experience that saves you time and enhances your
love for reading.
Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and
personal growth!

ebookgate.com