Èyémọ̀tẹ́
name
/è.jé.mɔ̃̀.tɛ́/
Definitions
- a legendary female leader, healer, seer and advisor of the town of Iyìn. Originally known by the name of Ifájẹ́mitẹ́, she was deified as an ancestral deity upon her death. She is regarded as a deity of protection and fertility, able to end famine and bring rain
Etymology
Folk etymology states it comes from the phrase èyé (“mother”) + mọ́ (“don't”) + tẹ́ (“to be put to shame”), believed to be a play on what was her original birth name Ifájẹ́mitẹ́ (literally “Ifa did not allow me to be put to shame”), which was later shortened with the word èyé (a term used as a title for older women or highly regarded women or priestesses) to become Èyémọ̀tẹ́.
Component words
èyémothermọ́don't
tẹ́to be put to shame
3 entries are spelled “tẹ́”. The etymology calls it “to be put to shame”, but that isn't enough to tell them apart — we've linked to the first.
tẹ́
to be flat; to be level
tẹ́
to be tasteless
tẹ́
to spread out
Source: Wiktionary,
where this word is spelled “Eyemọtẹ”.
Reference:
en-Eyemọtẹ-yo-name-NDfT5sFA