fingernail(s) or toenail(s); also a small unit of measurement of length or width (see Molina and Karttunen); possibly about a palm's width, or from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the index finger? (We also have an entry for iztitl, which is a variant spelling.) See also cemiztetl.
The measurement is given as "palmo" in the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. The discussion about the measurements of some young women's buttocks is interesting; larger buttocks were preferred over smaller ones. The young women were also apparently virgins, and this was apparently part of what was upsetting, along with the small size of their bottoms. (sixteenth century, Quauhtinchan)
iztetl tzontli = the hair, the nails = the offspring of someone important (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
auh niman y quimitlanillia zoua quimilhuia y nonoualca annechmomaquilizque ciua namechnonauatillia yeuatl, y nauiztetl ynic tzintamalpatlauac = Y luego les pide mujer, le dice a los nonoualca: "Ustedes me darán mujer, les ordeno que sea de caderas de cuatro cuartas de ancho." (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)
auh niman quimonanaco yn ciua nauime yn aoc auilli ynic ueueyn amo ixquich yn itlatomachiual oquimilhui yn nonoualca amo ixquich y nicnequi amo aci y nauiztetl y intzintamall cenca uey y nicnequi niman cenca oquallanteuaque yn nonoualca = Y luego vinieron y tomaron cuatro mujeres, aún no jugadas, que no eran de la medida. Le dijo a los nonoualca: "No llegan a lo que deseo, sus caderas no llegan a cuatro cuartas, las quiero muy grandes." Luego los nonoualca se enojaron mucho y se fueron. (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)