Ananse Ntontan
/əˈnæn.seɪ nˈtɔn.tɑːn/noun
An Akan Adinkra symbol depicting a spider’s web, associated with wisdom, creativity, and the complexity of life.
Did you know?Ananse, the clever spider trickster of Akan folklore, is famous for collecting and distributing wisdom, making the web a symbol of intelligence rather than mere entanglement.
Etymological Timeline
Precolonial period
Akan
Ananse
“Spider; also the name of the clever spider trickster in Akan oral tradition”
Precolonial period
Akan
ntontan
“Spider’s web or woven web”
18th–19th Century
Asante Twi
Ananse ntontan
“Spider’s web; a metaphor for interconnectedness and ingenuity”
19th–20th Century
Akan
Ananse Ntontan
“An Adinkra symbol representing wisdom, creativity, and the complexity of life”
Modern English
English
Ananse Ntontan
“The name of the Akan Adinkra spider-web symbol”