What, asked Obsle, was the Ekumen—a world, a league of worlds, a place, a government? “Well, all of those and none. Ekumen is our Terran word; in the common tongue it’s called the Household; in Karhidish it would be the Hearth. In Orgota I’m not sure, I don’t know the language well enough yet.
This whole passage, Genly explaining what the Ekumen is, is super-interesting
