to recognize a noble status or to knight someone (see Molina)
Orthographic Variants:
tlatecutililli
Alonso de Molina:
tlatecutililli. ennoblecido o armado cauallero. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 134v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.