ehecacoatl. | Nahuatl Dictionary

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ehecacoatl.

Headword:

ehecacoatl.

Principal English Translation:

1) a type of snake, such as a constrictor or a pit viper (see Karttunen)
2) a tornado or a whirlwind (literally, wind-serpent) (see Karttunen and attestations)

IPAspelling:

eheːkɑkoːɑːtɬ

Frances Karttunen:

EHĒCACŌĀ–TL. There is disagreement about whether this is a constrictor or a pit viper. Sahagún and Clavijero both believe it is called a 'wind serpent' because of its swiftness, but it is also more directly associated with wind. M has the phrase eecacoayo mixtli 'storm cloud with whirlwind,' and T has EHQUETZALCŌĀ–TL 'whirlwind.'

Attestations from sources in English:

tlatecihuiloc yuā quisaco ỹ eccacohuatl = it hailed and there were tornadoes
Here in This Year: Seventeenth-Century Nahuatl Annals of the Tlaxcala-Puebla Valley, ed. and transl. Camilla Townsend, with an essay by James Lockhart (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010), 174–175.

omochiuh chicahuac quiahuitl yhuan tesihuitl yca ehecacoatl = there was a great rainstorm with hail and a whirlwind.
Here in This Year: Seventeenth-Century Nahuatl Annals of the Tlaxcala-Puebla Valley, ed. and transl. Camilla Townsend, with an essay by James Lockhart (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010), 144–145.

Rey ypantera macoc = he was given the banner of the king [to parade about with]
Here in This Year: Seventeenth-Century Nahuatl Annals of the Tlaxcala-Puebla Valley, ed. and transl. Camilla Townsend, with an essay by James Lockhart (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2010), 174–175.

themes:

Animals, Bugs, Insects, Reptiles, Fish, etc.

Snakes, Serpents

Weather, Climate