ìyàwó
noun
/ì.jà.wó/
ị̀yàwó (alternative)
Definitions
-
junior wife; (the other wives in a polygamous marriage not the senior wife)
Oppositesìyáálé
-
wife
Similar wordsayanoun 4 entries are spelled “aya”, and the list this came from doesn't say which one is meant — we've linked to the first. aya wife àyà chest àyá same time in the past year ọyà wife obìnrinnoun
Etymology
A Folk etymology suggests it is from ìyà (“suffering, punishment”) + Ìwó (“Iwo town”), literally “The suffering I experienced in Ìwó town”. The story originates from several verses of the odù Ifá chapter Ogbèyọ̀nú, in which the orisha Ọ̀rúnmìlà married a woman in the town of Ìwó and she proceeds to mistreated him severely, yet he still maintained his patience.
* Compare Nupe yàwó.
Component words
ìyàsuffering, punishmentÌwóIwo town
Used in
Related words
Listed as a similar word by
These words list this one in their own definitions. This word does not list them back, so Wiktionary records the link in one direction only.
The meaning shown next to each is the one that named this word.
wife
Words in other languages from this one
These are words in other languages that came from this Yorùbá word, mostly through trade, the Atlantic slave trade, and contact with neighbouring languages.
They are not translations. A word here means what it means in its own language, which may have drifted a long way from the Yorùbá it started as.
yawoKrioyawoNupe
Source: Wiktionary,
where this word is spelled “iyawo”.
Reference:
en-iyawo-yo-noun-RfsmVPAG