a pole or a batten; literally, wooden reed (see Molina)
Orthographic Variants:
quauhacatl
Alonso de Molina:
quauhacatl. varal. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 86r. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.