a precious stone, almost like an emerald (see Molina; Engl. transl. by SW)
Orthographic Variants:
paltic chalchiuitl
Alonso de Molina:
paltic chalchiuitl. piedra preciosa casi como esmeralda. 71m2-79r. col. 2. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.