Ogun

See also: ogun, Ogún, and Ogün

English

Alternative forms

• Ogún

Etymology

Borrowed from Yoruba Ògún.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈəʊɡən/

Proper noun

Ogun

1. A male given name from Yoruba.
2. An orisha in the Yoruba religion, the god of war and technology.
3. A surname originating as a patronymic.
4. A state of Nigeria in the South West geopolitical zone. Capital and largest city: Abeokuta.

Anagrams

• noug, ǃoǃung

Yoruba

Etymology 1

From ògún (“spirit or energy one has after hunting or battling”), ultimately from Proto-Yoruboid *ò-gwṹ, equivalent ò- +‎ gún.

• The concept of Ogun as the embodiment of iron and hunting likely dates to the Iron Age and is thus present in most religious/spiritual practices of Volta-Niger and Benue-Congo speaking peoples. Two groups of cognates exist. The first ones are those in which this spirit is personified as a deity and becoming a proper noun, see Edo Ogun and Fon Gu. However, other cognates maintain the noun form of this word as simply the energy or spirit associated with killing, see Igala ògwú (“killer instinct”), Idoma ògwú (“honor given to a successful hunter or warrior; display of behavior when someone has killed a large animal”), or possibly Igbo òdogwu (“mighty hunter”). The root term *gwṹ could be cognate with Volta-Niger language terms for "kill," see Igbo ògbú (“killer”) or perhaps nwụ (“to kill”), Proto-Edoid *ghu, Nupe wu, Ibibio woot, Akan wu, Kamo yu. This is likely especially since Igala égwú means "corpse," and the term also greatly resembles the verb to die in Yorùbá, kú.

Likely a Doublet of Egúngún, referring to deified ancestors and veneration of the dead, see Proto-Yoruboid *É-gwṹ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ò.ɡṹ/

Proper noun

Ògún

1. Ogun (orisha of war, iron, metallurgy, and technology), patron of warriors, hunters, blacksmiths, and ironworkers.

   Kò sí òrìṣà tí yóò ṣe bí Ògún lágbẹ̀dẹ ― There is no òrìṣà that will perform like Ògún in a smithy

2. (by extension) August, the third month of the traditional Yoruba calendar, the Kọ́jọ́dá; named in honor of Ògún. Many Ògún festivals are held during this month.

   Synonyms: Oṣù Ògún, Ọ̀gọ́ọ̀sì, Oṣù Ẹ̀jọ-Ọdún, Oṣù Kẹ́jọ, Ògún Lákaayé, Ọṣìn Imọlẹ̀

Derived terms

• ológùn-ún (“A worshipper of Ògún”)
• Oṣù Ògún (“August (traditional calendar)”)
• àwòrò Ògún (“An Ògún priest”)
• Ògún-pípè (“A song or chant performed during the worship of Ògún, similar to an ìjálá”)
• Ògúnbíyí (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún gave birth to this child"”)
• Ògúndá (“One of the principle Odù Ifá”)
• Ògúndáyìísí (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has spared this child"”)
• Ògúndélé (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has arrived into the home"”)
• Ògúndépò (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has reached a high rank"”)
• Ògúndípẹ̀ (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has compensated"”)
• Ògúngbẹ̀san (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún took his revenge"”)
• Ògúngbèmí (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún favored/saved me"”)
• Ògúnlẹ́yẹ (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has honor/dignity"”)
• Ògúnmẹ́fun (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún chose purity"”)
• Ògúnmọ́dẹdé (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has brought along one who will be a hunter"”)
• Ògúnmọ́lá (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has chosen honor"”)
• Ògúnmákin (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has chosen the brave one"”)
• Ògúnníyì (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has dignity"”)
• Ògúnsányà (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún paid the price for my suffering"”)
• Ògúntáyọ̀ (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún is worthy of joy"”)
• Ògúntóyè (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún is worthy of honor," "Ògún is worthy of a chieftancy"”)
• Ògúnwálé (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún has come home"”)
• Ògúnyẹmí (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún befits me"”)
• Ògúnyọ̀ládé (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún rejoices in royalty"”)
• Ògúnyín̄ká (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún surrounds me"”)
• Ògúǹdé (“A Yoruba name meaning, "Ògún walked here"”)

 

See also

• (Kojoda months) oṣù Kọ́jọ́dá; Òkúdu (“June”), Agẹmọ (“July”), Ògún (“August”), Òwéwe (“September”), Ọ̀wàrà (“October”), Bélú (“November”), Ọ̀pẹ̀ (“December”), Ṣẹ̀rẹ́ (“January”), Èrèlé (“February”), Ẹ̀rẹ̀nà (“March”), Igbe (“April”), Ẹ̀bìbì (“May”) ^{(Category: yo:Kojoda months)}

Etymology 2

From ò- (“nominalizing prefix”) +‎ gùn (“to be long”), literally “That which is long”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ò.ɡũ̀/

Proper noun

Ògùn

1. Ogun (a river in Nigeria)

   Synonym: Odò Yemọja

2. Ogun (a state of Nigeria)