Search All Fields | Nahuatl Dictionary

You are here

NOTE: Use quotation marks to match an exact phrase. Use a wildcard (*) at the end of your search keyword to perform a "begins with" search.

Displaying 1001 - 1040 of 1121 records found.

-yotl.

having the nature of; an abstract or collective nominal suffix that, when possessed, expresses inalienable or organic possession of the noun
James Lockhart, Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Studies, 2001), 242.

-cuil-.

bent, curved

petlacalli.

a deep basket with a cover, in which things were stored, a woven wicker hamper (see Karttunen and Molina); a box; a chest; or, a cage

tlamamalli.

a burden, a load that the human carriers put on their backs (see Molina); the human carrier became "tameme" in Spanish; also, tlamamalli can be a responsibility (see attestations); mama the inherent verb, to carry

tequitl.

tribute labor; work; a task; a charge; a duty; an obligation or responsibility; a requirement; an allotment; also, a section of an altepetl (see Molina, Carochi, Lockhart, and Karttunen); also, a person's name (attested as male)

tlaxilacalli.

ward, division, subdistrict of an altepetl; in Spanish: barrio

tzihuactli.

a small agave with a spiny flower stalk; it has a soft edible fruit, and its roots have a medicinal value (Florentine Codex); it could be made into an arrow (Matrícula de Huexotzinco); it had associations with the Chichimecs and the Otomi (see attestations); it was also a personal name

pehua.

to begin, to commence; with a directional, this means to leave for someplace, to depart; in contexts of war, this means to conquer, to overcome one's enemies (see Molina and attestations)

cencahua.

to prepare, get ready (see Karttunen and Lockhart); to ornament something; or, to relinquish entirely (see attestations)

huetzi.

to fall down; to fall; to fall on a certain day

icnelia.

to help or benefit someone; to favor someone; to befriend someone; when used in conjunction with God the euphemistic meaning is to bring about one's death (see Karttunen and Lockhart)

tlayacanqui.

leader, guide

James Lockhart, The Nahuas after the Conquest: A Social and Cultural History of the Indians of Central Mexico, Sixteenth through Eighteenth Centuries (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992), 43–4.

atlapalli.

a leaf, or a bird wing (see Molina and Karttunen); also part of the metaphorical expression for commoners, macehualli

zazanilli.

a little tale or story to make people laugh, a joke (see Molina); or, a fable (see Sahagún); a riddle (see Sahagún)

mamaltin.

captives (see Molina; he also gives mamalti for captives)

tzinitzcan.

Monuntain Trogon, a bird (see Hunn, attestations)

macehua.

to dance; to merit, get, or deserve that which is desired; to do penitence so as to become deserving; to receive as a grant

See also tlamacehua.

tlacochtli.

a weapon, a projectile, a type of arrow (see Molina), perhaps a spear, javelin, lance, or harpoon; the tlacochtli featured in the Florentine Codex (Book 6, f. 33v.) shows it to be as tall as the man holding it; this term also appears as a man's name (rendered Tlacochin or Tlacochtzin)

Caxtillan.

Castile (Castilla, Nahuatlized and with a locative -tlan suffix added); Castile was a kingdom of what became Spain; Caxtillan or Castillan could also refer more generically to Spain

itoa.

to say, to speak; to volunteer (see Karttunen, Lockhart, and Molina)

moztla.

tomorrow; the next day; in the future (an expression of time); see also our entry -moztlayoc
Andrés de Olmos, Arte para aprender la lengua Mexicana, ed. Rémi Siméon, facsimile edition ed. Miguel León-Portilla (Guadalajara: Edmundo Aviña Levy, 1972), 189.

atlatlalacatl.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck, a bird (see Hunn, attestations); goose (see Molina)

camatl.

the mouth
James Lockhart, Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Studies, 2001), 212.

pillotl.

nobility; also, childishness

James Lockhart, Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Studies, 2001), 230.

ahuehuetl.

the cypress tree (see Karttunen)

carta de venta.

a bill of sale (a loanword from Spanish)

Mexicayotl.

Mexican-ness, the Mexican state; the Mexica empire

tlalalacatl.

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck, a bird (see Hunn, attestations); a goose or a large duck (Molina)

choloa.

... not quite the same as being exiled or banished, and yet the translator of the play Holy Wednesday used cholotinemi for ...

cuetzpalin.

a lizard, an iguana (see Karttunen); also, a calendrical marker

Chalchiuhtlatonac.

the name of a female divine force of water; the name of a Mexica ruler; and a name taken by Nahua householders in various provincial communities (see attestations)

quen.

how?; what?; in what way? in what manner? (but beware not to confuse a plural ending for the preterite perfect, when it has an intrusive n)

itztli.

a sharp-bladed instrument of obsidian; also, Itztli ("Obsidian Blade") was a deity that was part of the Tezcatlipoca Complex of deities that relate to power, omnipotence, often malevolence, feasting and revelry.
"Table 3. Major Deities of the Late Pre-Hispanic Central Mexican Nahua-Speaking Communities." Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 6: Social Anthropology, ed Manning Nash (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967).

momoztli.

platform or raised altar for sacrificial offerings and displays in pre-conquest style; shrines; mound, platform, etc., in colonial times
James Lockhart, Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Studies, 2001), 225.

tolinia.

to be poor, afflicted, bothered, in need of attention, etc. (reflexive); to afflict, trouble, put down, oppress, make suffer, to make poor, mistreat, bother (transitive)

James Lockhart, Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahuatl, with Copious Examples and Texts (Stanford: Stanford University Press and UCLA Latin American Studies, 2001), 240.

cuauhxicalli.

a wooden pan or vessel (see Molina); or, a plate (see Sahagún attestations); or, an eagle vessel for containing hearts and blood of sacrificial victims intended to be offerings to the divinities or deities (see Sahagún, attestations)

Ipalnemohuani.

"He Through Whom One Lives," or that which, or by means of which, people live; Giver of Life; a deity that is part of the Ometeotl Complex, primordial parents of deities and humans, creation; also came to be used to refer to the Christian god
"Table 3. Major Deities of the Late Pre-Hispanic Central Mexican Nahua-Speaking Communities." Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volume 6: Social Anthropology, ed Manning Nash (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967).

mictia.

to kill, or to beat or mistreat (literally, to make someone die)

The Tlaxcalan Actas: A Compendium of the Records of the Cabildo of Tlaxcala (1545-1627), eds. James Lockhart, Frances Berdan, and Arthur J.O. Anderson (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1986), 105.

tlalamatl.

land book, land papers, primordial titles, títulos; also, a specific tree with leaves that resemble the sage plant and which grows in cold places, such as on the slopes of volcanoes

The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández, ed. Simon Varey, transl. Rafael Chabrán, Cynthia L. Chamberlin, and Simon Varey (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2000), 123.

matlalin.

the color dark green (see Karttunen); or, the color blue-green, blue, or turquoise; a blue-green flower; also, a person's name, whether just by itself or in compounds (e.g. Matlalacatl, Matlalihuitl)