| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Abusua | Matrilineal lineage: inheritance and succession pass through the mother's line. |
| Akwaba | Welcome (an Akan word used across Côte d'Ivoire). |
| Ba ouli | "The child is dead": the words from which the name Baoulé is said to derive. |
| Blolo | The other world of ancestors and spirits. |
| Blolo bian | Carved "spirit husband". |
| Blolo bla | Carved "spirit wife": figure of a spiritual spouse from the blolo. |
| Bo usu | Rough-style hunters' statuettes meant to attract game. |
| Fa | Complex divination system consulted by diviners and councils of elders. |
| Gbagba / Mblo | Portrait masks celebrating beauty, linked to entertainment dances. |
| Goli | Mask dance of Wan origin, adopted by the Baoulé c. 1900–1910. |
| Goli glen | Second goli mask, inspired by the antelope and the crocodile. |
| Klanman | Total beauty: visual harmony, moral uprightness and civility. |
| Komien | Priest-diviner who reads the will of the spirits. |
| Kpan | Fourth goli mask: human face with a crested hairstyle. |
| Kpan pre | Third goli mask: ram-horned. |
| Kplé kplé | First goli mask, disc-shaped; red (male) or black (female). |
| Kro | Village or town; found in place names such as Yamoussoukro and Dimbokro. |
| N'vle | Baoulé sub-groups or tribes (Ouarébo, N'gban, Aïtou, Nanafoué, Agba…). |
| Nanan | Title of respect for chiefs, kings and elders. |
| Ndoma | Portrait mask of the mblo tradition, often carved for a living person. |
| Ngban | A Baoulé subgroup; Blalè was chief of the Ngban of the South. |
| Niamien (Nyamien) | The supreme creator god. |
| Paquinou | Baoulé Easter: great return to the villages. |
| Paquinou | "During Easter": the Easter festival of reunion in Baoulé villages. |
| Tutorat | Customary land institution: a host grants a migrant use of land in exchange for lasting recognition. |
| V baoulé | The V-shaped area of central Côte d'Ivoire around Bouaké and Yamoussoukro. |
| Waka sran | "Wooden beings": figures housing protective spirits. |
| Warébo (Walèbo) | A Baoulé subgroup. |
| Wawlé tanni | The hand-woven Baoulé pagne. |
| Zulu | Protective spirits housed in waka sran. |
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/ Glossary of Baoulé Terms
Glossary of Baoulé Terms
Key Baoulé words used across the encyclopedia.