Source: IGBO
List Of Top 100 Proverbs In Igbo And Their Meaning
Here is the List Of Top 100 Proverbs In Igbo And Their Meaning , Note that more updates on this will be shared.
Igbo Proverb | Meaning(Literal) |
1. Ura ga-eju onye nwuru anwu afo. | A dead person shall have all the sleep necessary. |
2. Gidi gidi bụ ugwu eze. | Unity is strength |
3. Chọọ ewu ojii ka chi dị | Make hay while the sun shines |
4. Otu onye tuo izu, o gbue ochu | Knowledge is never complete: two heads are better than one. |
5. Ihe ehi hụrụ gbalaba oso ka okuku huru na-atụ onu | Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. |
6. Oge adighi eche mmadu | Time and tide wait for nobody. |
7. E lewe ukwu Egbue ewu. | A buxom waist that makes her man(husband) kill a goat for her when he looks at it. |
8. Ebe onye dara ka chi ya kwaturu ya. | Where one falls is where his god pushed him down. |
9. Ihe di woro ogori azuala na ahia. | What was secret is revealed in the market place. |
10. Ewu nwuru n’oba ji abughi agu gburu ya. | A goat that dies in a barn was never killed by hunger. |
11. A ma ka mmiri si were baa n’opi ugboguru? | Who knows how water entered into the stalk of the pumpkin? |
12. A chuo aja ma a hughi udele, a mara na ihe mere be ndimmuo. | If the vulture fails to hover at the end of a sacrifice, then you know that something happened in the land of spirits. |
13. Si kele onye nti chiri; enu anughi, ala anu. | Salute the deaf; if the heavens don’t hear, the earth will hear. |
14. Nwunye awo si na di atoka uto, ya jiri nuta nke ya kworo ya n’azu. | The female toad said that husband is so sweet that when she got married, she carried her husband permanently on the back. |
15. Ugo chara acha adi(ghi) echu echu | A mature eagle feather will ever remain pure. |
16. Onyeubiam adi(ghi) aza “Omeokachie.” | An indigent does not take the title of “Omeokachie” (i.e. one who completes whatever he puts his hand to) |
17. Eze mbe si na olu oha di mma, mana oriri oha na-aka ahu. | The tortoise said that many hands at work is enjoyable, but many mouths to feed can be embarrassing. |
18. Eze mbe si na ihe ya ji-achiri ihe egwu ya aga njem bu maka ya ezu ndiegwu. | The tortoise said that it always travels with its musical instrument in case it meets other musicians. |
20. Nwaanyi muta ite ofe mmiri mmiri, di ya amuta ipi utara aka were suru ofe. | If a woman decides to make the soup watery, the husband will learn to dent the Garri before dipping it into the soup. |
21. O na-abu a si nwata wuba ahu, o saba afo ya. | Tell a child to wash his body, he washes his stomach. |
22. Akwukwo juru n’ohia, ma a baa a choba okazi. | There are various leaves in the bush, but people go in to look for okazi leaves. |
23. Agwo emeghi nke o jiri buru agwo , umuaka achiri ya hie nku. | If a snake fails to show its venom, little kids will use it in tying firewood. |
24. Ukpala gbabara n’ikpo okuko na-ala ala mmuo. | The grasshopper that runs into the mist of fowls ends up in the land of spirits. |
25. Onye a kporo apari, o na-ehi n’amanna ya, abughi apari. | A presumed fool who sleeps in his father’s house is not a fool. |
26. Ndi na-eje mposi abali na-ahu ukpana ndi mmuo. | Those who defecate at night see the ghost grasshopper. |
27. Nwata bunie nna ya enu, akpaamu ya ayochie ya anya. | If a child lifts his father, his scrotum will blindfold him. |
28. Onye hapu onu ya, uguru arachaa ya. | If one fails to lick his lips, the harmattan will do it. |
29. Okuko si na ihe ya ji-ele anya n’enu ma ya na añu mmiri bu na ihe na-egbu si n’igwe abia. | The chicken says it looks up when drinking water because what kills it comes from the sky. |
30. Ijiji na-enweghi onye ndumodu na-eso ozu ala n’inyi. | A fly that has no counselor follows the corpse to the grave. |
31. “Nwunye anyi, nwunye anyi”: ka ndeli bia ka anyi mara onye o bu nwunye ya. | “Our wife, our wife”: come midnight and we will know whose wife she really is. |
32. Ula towa uto, ekwowe ya ekwowe. | When sleep becomes enjoyable, we snore. |
33. O bialu be onye abiagbuna ya, mgbe o ga-ala mkpumkpu apukwana ya n’azu. | May one’s visitor not constitute a problem, so that on his departure he will not leave with a hunchback. |
34. Nwa ovu na-eto, o di ka o ga-aka nne ya. | When the baby wren is growing, it looks like it would be bigger than its mother. |
35. Okuko na-arogoro ite onu, chetekwe mma gburu ya. | The chicken frowns at the cooking pot, ignoring the knife that killed it. |
36. Ihe ka-nte bata n’onu nte, nte etefu. | When something greater than the pigmy cricket enters its hole, it takes off. |
37. Uzu na-amaghi akpu ogene lee egbe anya n’odu. | The blacksmith who does know how to forge a metal gong should look at the tail of a kite. |
38. Oke oshimmiri anokataghi rie onye obula nke o na-ahughi ukwu ya anya. | The ocean never swallows a person with whose leg it does not come in contact. |
39. Onye buru chi ya uzo, o gbagbue onwe ya n’oso. | He who walks before his godly guardian does the race of his life |
40. Okuko nyuo ahu, ana achuwa ya oso. | When the fowl farts, the ground becomes a nuisance. |
41. Okwulu anaghi amiri ote ofe. | A master chef is not blessed with a good harvest of okra. |
42. Mmiri riri enyi ka mbe huru na-awa ogodo: o ga-efe mmiri a efe ka o ga -awu ya awu? | The tortoise gears up to besides a river that swallowed an elephant: is it going to fly over this river or just jump over? |
43. Ohia woro gi nku, sere gi onu | The forest that denies you firewood has massaged your neck. |
44. O bia mgbe Alio Ene gburu atu, ya biakwa ma atu zogbuo Alio Ene. | He who calls whenever Elder Ene kills a deer, let him call if the deer kicks the living daylight out of Elder Ene. |
45. O bulu na i taa m aru n’ike, ma i zeghi nshi; mu taa gi aru n’isi, agaghi m ezere uvulu. | If you bite me on the butt, despite the danger of sinking your teeth into fecal matter, then if I bite you on the head, I will disregard the danger of sinking my teeth into cerebral matter. |
46. Okuko mmanya na-egbu ahubegh i mmanwulu ara na-ayi. | A drunken fowl has not met a mad fox. |
47. Nwaanyi anaghi-eji na nwunyedi ya kwere ya ekene nke oma kpowa ya ogo. | A woman does not regard her sister-wife as sister-in-law just because she (her husband’s other wife) accepted her greeting gracefully. |
48. Onye si na ya anaghi ata anu nkita, ya arakwala mmiri ofe ya. | He who abhors dog meat should not eat dog-meat soup. |
49. A tuoro omara, o mara, a tuoro ofeke, o fenye ishi n’ohia. | If you tell a wise one, he understands; tell a dunce, he runs into the bush. |
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1.Ibo Proverb – Otu mkp ụr ụ akw ụ adịghị efu n’ọkụ
Equivalent English meaning– The fewer things we have the more careful we are about them.
2.Ibo Proverb – Ihere adịghị eme onye ara ka ọ na-eme ụmụ-nna ya
Equivalent English meaning -. Relations are concerned most with a person’s behaviour.
3.Ibo Proverb – Otu onye tụọ izu, o gbue ọchụ
Equivalent English meaning – Knowledge is never complete: two heads are better than one.
4.Ibo Proverb – Ihe ehi hụrụ gbalaba ọsọ ka ọkụkụ hụrụ na-atụ ọnụ
Equivalent English meaning – Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
5.Ibo Proverb – Oge adịghị eche mmadụ
Equivalent English meaning – Time and tide wait for nobody.
6.Ibo Proverb – Kpo ahịhịa ka obere otu ụkpa
Equivalent English meaning – A stitch in time saves nine.
7.Ibo Proverb – Chọọ ewu ojii ka chi dị
Equivalent English meaning – Make hay while the sun shines
8.Ibo Proverb – Gidi gidi bụ ugwu eze
Equivalent English meaning – Unity is strength
9.Ibo Proverb; Eze mbe si na nsogbu bu nke ya, ya jiri kworo ya n’azu
Equivalent English meaning: One should try and shoulder one’s own burden
10.Ibo Proverb; Nwaanyi muta ite ofe mmiri mmiri, di ya amuta ipi utara aka were suru ofe..
Equivalent English meaning: one should learn to change tactics to suit a situation.
11.Ibo Proverb; Onwu egbuchughi ji e jiri chu aja, e mesie o pue ome.
Equivalent English meaning Things will eventually improve despite the present difficulties.
12.Ibo Proverb; A ma ka mmiri si were baa n’opi ugboguru?
Equivalent English meaning: Who can explain this puzzle.