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Search Issues: Update 2026-09-16 - Repairs to some of our search pages are ongoing. Thank you for your continued patience!
Meanwhile, elements of the Advanced Search are working and the Alphabetical Listings are working, too.
arrow(s), dart(s), when combined with chimalli (shield), a metaphor for war; also, a measurement (see Molina, Karttunen, and Lockhart); also see cemmitl for the measurement discussions; and see teomitl
See an image that represents mitl in the Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs, ed. Stephanie Wood (Eugene, Ore.: Wired Humanities, 2020-present).
in iuh mochimaltopeoa mjtl = how a spear was fended off with a shield (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
ynic hehey, quimotlaxillique yni inmiuh = so that they each shot three arrows (1608, Central Mexico)
mintli ymatzalan = mi:ntli i:ma:tza:lan = arrows in his hand (Tlaxcala, ca. 1600) [mitl imatzalan]
oqui piaia yca Y tlahuitol, chicnauh-mamalhuiztlí, tetotocamitl. mintlí, acallí, mochíhícxitlanhuíc = They guarded him with his bow, six litters, hunting arrows, piercing arrows, and a boat, all near his feet. (Tlaxcala, ca. 1600)
cayncemitol yn Yaoyotl quipiaya tetotocamitl, mintli Yn tlahuitol = their avocation was conducting war, and they carried their hunting arrows, arrows, and bows.
tlacumitl, iacatecpaio = darts of wooden rods with flint tips
mitl tlacuchtli = arrows, spears (Central Mexico, sixteenth century)
auh yn mitl yn mitohua yn tlacochtli. yn motocayotia tlatzontectli quicuitlalpique. ypā motlallique yn atlan ynic hualpanoque = And the arrows called tlacochtli, named tlatzontectli, they bound to their waists and rested on them as they swam across (central Mexico, early seventeenth century)
onihuallihualoc ca mitl. ca chimalli. yn onimacoc. ca yaoyotl y notequiuh = I have been given the arrow and the shield, for war is my practice (central Mexico, early seventeenth century)
yhuan oncan no quinmacac yn mitl yhuan tlahhuitolli. yhuan chitali = And he then also gave them the arrow and the bow and the net carrying-bag (central Mexico, early seventeenth century)
yn mitl yn chimalli = arrow and shield (metaphor for war)
quicuique yn mitl yhuan chitatli = they took up their arrows and nets
oncan motlatlamalique in mexitin yca yn mitl matlatl = there the Mexica fished with dart and net (central Mexico, early seventeenth century)
tzivacmitl = a cactus arrow (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
nomiuh = my arrow (said of something that one guards for oneself, really one's property; in ancient times, it could refer to an arm or a leg of a war captive, seized by the victorious warrior) (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
auh navi in mjtotonti qujchivilia, qujl ce tlapcopa pouhquj, qujl ce cihoatlampa pouhquj, qujl ce vitzlanpa pouhquj, qujl ce mjctlanpa pouhquj = And they made him four little arrows; they said one belonged to the east, one belonged to the west, one belonged to the south, one belonged to the north (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
La palabra "mitl" se usaba a veces con el sentido de una medida, posiblemente la mitad de un matl (la mitad de una braza): yuan centetl in chinamitl ynic motamachiua macuilmatl yhuan ce mitl = un camellon que medido tiene cinco brazas y media (Ciudad de México, 1564)
yn chimalli yn itzquauitl yn mitli = el escudo, la macana y la flecha (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)