a lock of hair or a tuft of wool (or the like) (see Molina)
Alonso de Molina:
papachtli. guedeja, o vedija de cabellos, o de otra cosa assi. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 79v. col. 1. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.