obi

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Same spelling, different tones

These entries fold to the same letters once tone is removed, so a tone-blind search returns all of them.

• obìporcupine; heart; chest; bosom; breast; centre; a fathom (used mainly for measuring cloth)
• òbititle of a king in Igbo land; central or most vital unit; ancestral house of the father (founder) of a village; house belonging to the head of the family (as opposed to mkpukè, woman’s house). The head of the house often retires here for a rest or to entertain visitors, to perform ceremonies, settle cases, and sometimes make offerings of his god(s). This building also houses the family's images like chi, nkwù, arò etc.; part of it is used as a store, e.g. for ropes for climbing palmtrees; palace; court; reception house
• nwadiànìsocial name of a child in his mother's family, home, locality, village or birthplace e.g. Each of the children of a woman who hails from Obi's family is known as a nwadiànì among Obi's family and kin. If a child's home town is Nneewi but his mother's birthplace is Nnoobi, that child is a nwadiànì at Nnoobi; if the mother's birthplace is the United States the child when in Nigeria is said to be nwadiànì in the United States
• Igwē ka Ànìtitle for an Obi or Ezè; name of a very notorious and powerful Igbo cult, with which many important Igbos were connected. It has been banned by legislation