to excuse one self, or to make excuses (see Molina)
Alonso de Molina:
itla itech ninotlamia. itla itech oninotlami. escusarse, o poner achaques, o escusas. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 43r. col. 1. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.