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altepenayotl.

Headword: 
altepenayotl.
Principal English Translation: 

the principal city, the head of a kingdom (see Molina)

Alonso de Molina: 

altepenayotl. principal ciudad, que es cabeza de reyno.
Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 4r. col. 1. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.

Attestations from sources in Spanish: 

"altepenayotl. capital, metrópoli, ciudad madre, ciudad principal."
Origen y desarrollo de la civilización en el occidente de México, Mesa de Trabajo, ‎eds. Pedro Armillas y ‎Angel Palerm (Zamora: Colegio de Michoacán. Centro de Estudios Antropológicos). Mesa de Trabajo, ‎Pedro Armillas, ‎Angel Palerm (1992), 162.

themes: 
Socio-Political Units, Cities, Towns, Neighborhoods