eyin

Eyin is a noun in Yoruba, a language spoken in southwestern Nigeria and neighboring areas. In Yoruba, ẹ̀yìn (often written as eyin without diacritics) means the back or rear of the body, applicable to both humans and animals. The term is used in everyday speech to describe location or orientation, such as parts of the body or the position of objects relative to something else.

Orthography and pronunciation can vary. The canonical form uses diacritics as ẹ̀yìn, with the initial vowel carrying a low tone. In informal writing or digital text, it is common to see eyin, which corresponds closely to the same word. The meaning remains the same across these spellings, though diacritics help indicate the correct pronunciation in formal writing.

As a basic Yoruba noun, eyin also appears in various expressions and compound forms that describe movement, injury, or conditions involving the back. Its usage is primarily literal, referring to the anatomical back, but it may appear in metaphorical phrases within Yoruba literature and everyday speech. The term is part of the core vocabulary for describing body parts and spatial relations in Yoruba.