river (see Karttunen), current, torrent, stream, running water (see attestations)
See an image that represents atoyatl in the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities, 2020-present).
atoiatl = stream (used in a discussion about blood vessels) (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
Auh aqujn no iê, atle ipan ontlachiaz, aqujn tlaavilmatiz: ca inomatca qujmoquechilia in atoiatl, in tepexitl: auh ca ic qujmomochiliz in totecujo, in tecoco: in at palanaliztli, in at ixpopoiotl, in at cocototztli: auh vmpa onqujҫaz in tlalticpac, in jcnoiotl timaliviz, in tzotzomatli, in tatapatli, icentlanca in qujttaz tlalticpac, vel vmpa onqujҫaz: vel ijellelacitiaz = But whoever also belittleth one, whoever is negligent, verily of his own volition plungeth himself into the torrent, from the crag, and certainly our lord will smite him with suffering, perhaps putrefaction, perhaps blindness, perhaps paralysis. And he will live in poverty on earth, he will endure misery, rags, tatters. As his ending which he will attain on earth, he will be poverty-stricken, he will be consumed by pain (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
atoyatl = in jtoca, itech qujztica in atl, ioan totoca, iuhquin qujtoznequj, atl totocanj [in itoca, itech quiztica in atl, ihuan totoca, iuhquin quitoznequi, atl totocani (SW) = "Its name comes from atl [water] and totoca [it runs}; as if to say 'running water.'" (1570s, central Mexico)