Aztlan
/ˈastlan/noun
The legendary ancestral homeland of the Mexica (Aztecs), traditionally said to be the place from which they migrated.
Did you know?In Nahuatl, Aztlan is commonly analyzed as a place-name built from aztatl meaning “heron” plus the locative ending -tlan, so its magic is in a real ancestral geography, not a hidden curse.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
Aztlān
“The legendary ancestral place of the Mexica, often imagined as an island or northern homeland”
Nahuatl
Nah
aztatl + -tlan
““Heron” + locative suffix meaning “place of” or “among””
Modern Spanish
Spa
Aztlán
“The name of the mythic homeland in colonial and modern historical writing”
Modern English
Eng
Aztlan
“The legendary ancestral homeland of the Aztecs/Mexica”