Ẹ̀sìnmìrìn
name
/ɛ̀.sĩ̀.mĩ̀.ɾĩ̀/
Ẹ̀sìmìrìn (alternative)
Definitions
- Niger river; the spirit of the Niger river
- a body of water in the town of Ifẹ̀, featured in the story of Mọrèmí. The fact that there still exists this river in Ifẹ̀ that is known as the Ẹ̀sìnmìnrìn may suggest the term originated with the river and with time came to refer to bodies of water encountered during migrations from and through Ife
- a female water divinity believed to be the spirit of the Ẹ̀sìnmìrìn river
Other entries with this spelling
Wiktionary records 2 entries spelled “Ẹ̀sìnmìrìn”. You're reading one of them; here are the others.
Etymology
From ẹ̀- + sìnmìrìn, which in term may be constructed to Proto-Yoruboid *ò-sĩ̀mĩ̀lì. Likely related to Igbo òsìmìlì (“river”), Igbo Òsìmìlì (“Niger river”), and Igala òhìmìnì (“a major river”). The term exists as the name of a river found in Ile Ife, Osun State, until it gradually came to be used as a term for any large body of water, similar to the Niger river. The term was Proto-Yoruboid, but with later language divergences and human migration and intermingling across the West African forest belt, the term diffused and came to be applied to many different large bodies of waters and in various subsets to water itself. The term is still used in reference to the river Esimirin in Ile Ife, Osun State. It is potentially an older cognate with Igbo mmiri (“water”) and thus potentially a Doublet of omi.
Component words
ẹ̀-sìnmìrìn
Source: Wiktionary,
where this word is spelled “Ẹsinmirin”.
Reference:
en-Ẹsinmirin-yo-name-To8L-Nas