a tail, such as that of an animal or a bird (see Molina); also the tail of a comet (see Zapata y Mendoza); and, part of the metaphor for commoner(s), cuitlapilli atlapalli (see Lockhart)
Injc Vme Parrapho: ipan mjtoa, in quenjn qujnpepenaia Iuezes. In tlatoanj oc cenca qujmocujtlaujaia in tetlatzontequjliliztli, qujcaquja in jxqujch in jneteilhujl: ioan in jchoqujz, in jnentlamachiliz in jnetolinjliz in cujtlapilli, atlapalli in jcnotlacatl, in motolinja in maçeoalli = Second Paragraph, in which it is described how they choose judges. The ruler watched especially over the trials; he heard all the accusations and the complaints, the afflictions, and the misery of the common folk, the orphans, the poor, and the vassals (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
Cuitlapilli, in atlapalli. Quitoznequi: maceoalli = The tail and the wing. This means the common people.
ipan qujҫoҫoaco in jahaz, in jcujtlapil, in onelli mach ipan mohonoltitivia = he came spreading his wings, his tail feathers over it; truly he spread himself over it (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
tiqujmjle, ticacaxe tiez, tehoatl timalacaioaz, tehoatl tecauhiooaz, ticeoalloaz: motlan mocalaqujz in cujtlapilli, in atlapalli = thou art to be the one with the bundle, the carrying frame. Thou art to be the umbrage, thou art to be the shade, the shadow, beneath which the vassals are to enter (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
matheo çivācuitlapil (the glyph next to the gloss of the name shows a woman's head, cihuatl, and a tail, cuitlapilli) (Tepetlaoztoc, sixteenth century)
cuitlapilli, atlapalli = los vasallos, los macehuales (sixteenth century, Quauhtinchan)
opeuhqui çitlali popoca çanoyapa quitecaya yn iuhqui icuitlapil = empezó a humear la estrella, por todas partes del cielo aparecía lo que parecía su cola (Tlaxcala, 1662–1692)
in que[n] quihuicazq[ue] yn icuitlapil yn iatlapal = cómo conducirán a su pueblo [la expresión viene del huehuetlatolli, el discurso antiguo] (ca. 1582, México)