- stammernounChapter 1 →
A speech difficulty in which a person involuntarily repeats or gets stuck on sounds or words, making it hard to speak smoothly.
“He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists.”
- capriciousadjectiveChapter 4 →
Unpredictable and likely to change suddenly without reason; here describing gods whose favor or anger cannot be anticipated or relied upon.
“It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest.”
- machetenounChapter 7 →
A broad, heavy knife used as a tool for cutting through vegetation or, in this novel, as a weapon.
“Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.”
- ogenenounChapter 2 →
A metal gong used in Igbo communities as a signaling instrument, beaten by the town crier to summon villagers to a meeting.
- obinounChapter 11 →
The main living quarters or reception hut of the head of an Igbo household, where he sleeps and receives guests.
“Okonkwo did not sleep that night. He kept walking in and out of his obi.”
- OraclenounChapter 3 →
A sacred source of divine prophecy or commands, consulted for guidance on important decisions; in this novel it is the spirit Agbala, whose pronouncements the community treats as absolute law.
- egwugwunounChapter 10 →
Masked figures who represent the ancestral spirits of the clan and serve as the highest court of justice in Umuofia, settling disputes with binding authority.
“Okonkwo's wives, and perhaps other women as well, might have noticed that the second egwugwu had the springy walk of Okonkwo.”
- ogbanjenounChapter 9 →
In Igbo belief, a child who is part of a cycle of spirits that repeatedly die young and are reborn to the same mother, causing her repeated grief.
- cowriesnounChapter 15 →
Small shells that were used as currency in West Africa; in this novel they represent wealth and are given as gifts or used in trade.
- urinounChapter 12 →
A betrothal feast in Igbo custom that formally seals the agreement between two families when a marriage is arranged.
- osunounChapter 18 →
A person dedicated to a deity as a kind of living sacrifice, regarded as an outcast by Igbo society and forbidden from mixing with free-born people.
- bride-pricenounChapter 8 →
Goods, money, or livestock paid by a groom's family to the bride's family as part of the formal marriage agreement in Igbo custom.
- ilonounChapter 6 →
The open communal ground at the center of the village where public gatherings, wrestling matches, and ceremonies take place.
- Week of PeacenounChapter 4 →
A sacred period before the planting season during which the earth goddess Ani forbids all violence or quarreling in the community.
- increasenounChapter 4 →
The yield or produce that the earth brings forth; here used in the sense of crops and harvests granted by the earth goddess.
“The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish.”
- garbsnounChapter 13 →
Clothing or costume worn for a specific purpose; here the war dress put on by men to carry out a ritual punishment.
“A large crowd of men from Ezeudu's quarter stormed Okonkwo's compound, dressed in garbs of war.”
- clansmannounChapter 13 →
A man who belongs to the same clan or community as another, bound by shared ancestry, customs, and mutual obligations.
“It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land.”
- fatherlandnounChapter 14 →
The land of one's father and patrilineal ancestors, which in Igbo custom is the place where a man truly belongs and holds social standing.
“A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland.”
- motherlandnounChapter 14 →
The land of one's mother and her relatives, which in Igbo custom serves as a place of refuge and comfort when a man is in trouble or exile.
“A man belongs to his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland.”
- unaccountablyadverbChapter 13 →
In a way that cannot be explained or understood; here expressing Okonkwo's bewilderment that warriors he once respected have inexplicably lost their fighting spirit.
“He mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women.”
- pacificationnounChapter 25 →
The colonial process of using force or pressure to make a people stop resisting foreign rule and accept it as normal; used here as the District Commissioner's self-serving term for conquest.
- abominationnounChapter 25 →
An act so deeply offensive to the gods or the moral order of the community that it is treated as a serious religious and social violation requiring special ritual response.
- infancynounChapter 9 →
The earliest period of a child's life, from birth up to about two or three years of age.
“She had borne ten children and nine of them had died in infancy, usually before the age of three.”
- visiblyadverbChapter 9 →
In a way that can clearly be seen by others; here meaning the medicine man's surprise showed plainly on his face and in his manner.
“The medicine man was visibly surprised, and the crowd watched in tense silence as the child's small hands worked the earth.”
- dominatedverbChapter 2 →
Controlled or had the most powerful influence over something; here meaning that fear was the single greatest force shaping every decision Okonkwo made.
“His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.”
Things Fall ApartNovel by Chinua Achebe