a small lance or spear (see Molina); literally, a small metal staff
Orthographic Variants:
tepuztopiltontli
Alonso de Molina:
tepuztopiltontli. lanza pequeña. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 104v. col. 1. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.