The word mmọnwụ is said to be derived from two Igbo words ‘mmụọ’ - spirit and ‘nwụ’ - death, which could be interpreted as spirit of the dead. The above explanation then implies that ‘Mmọnwụ’ is conceived as a manifestation or concretization of the spirits of dead ancestors. The Igbo people believe that the departed are in a state of personal immortality because the process of dying is never complete. It is commonly believed that at death, a good man becomes an ancestor and may return as occasion demands, in the form of Mmọnwụ or masquerade. Masquerades/Mmọnwụ therefore, can be called a spirit or spirit made visible, made audible, made touchable and made fellable. That is to say that in whatever perspective one looks at Mmọnwụ, its cultural notation is not earthly. It has both human and spiritual essence.