Oriṣa

Etymology
The etymology of the term is (perhaps from, , or ). May have originally referred to the sky or rainfall, a sense which is still used in some contextes but is rare.

Several folk etymologies exist, the main one suggesting it comes from. (This is unlikely, however, as this term only fits the Yoruba definition of òrìṣà, but not the cognate versions in other languages or even in other Yoruba dialects.)

Historically among the ancient Yoruba, and likely their Proto-Yoruboid ancestors, Òrìṣà referred to a specific arch-divinity of the sky and creation (now known as and ). See cognates 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, and 🇨🇬. In these related languages and Eastern Yoruba dialects of the Yoruba language (see ) as well as old Yoruba songs, Òrìṣà has retained a proper noun definition, referring to a specific high-ranking androgynous divinity associated with the sky, creation, and government.

Proper noun

 * 1)  the supreme being and deity associated with the sky, rainfall, and weather. Equivalent to what is now regarded as, this meaning is still used in the Ekiti Yorùbá equivalent ,.
 * , a primordial sky deity or associated with rain, creation, and purity regarded as the oldest of the deities and the creator of humanity. Probably originally equivalent with Sense 1. The deity traditionally was regarded as being androgynous. Their worship combined with the ancestral deification of a figure known as, forming into the Yoruba deity  and.
 * , a primordial sky deity or associated with rain, creation, and purity regarded as the oldest of the deities and the creator of humanity. Probably originally equivalent with Sense 1. The deity traditionally was regarded as being androgynous. Their worship combined with the ancestral deification of a figure known as, forming into the Yoruba deity  and.