to repair something; or, to correct a piece of writing; or, to fix something that was poorly made or badly done (see Molina)
IPAspelling:
pɑpɑhtiɑ
Alonso de Molina:
papatia. nitla. (pret. onitlapapati.) reparar algo, o corregir escriptura o emmendar lo mal hecho. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 79v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.