Calpulli
/kalˈpoʎ.li/noun
A traditional Nahua social, territorial, and political unit whose members shared land, labor, religious duties, and community responsibilities.
Did you know?Spanish colonial writers often translated calpulli as a barrio or neighborhood, but the institution also organized education, tribute, labor, landholding, and religious life.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Uto-Aztecan
PUA
*kali
“House or dwelling; a reconstructed ancestral form associated with later Uto-Aztecan words for house”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
calli
“House or dwelling”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
calpolli
“A large household, extended community, or organized neighborhood; often analyzed as related to calli, “house””
16th Century
Spanish
calpulli
“A Nahua community or neighborhood, recorded by Spanish colonial chroniclers”
Modern English
English
calpulli
“A traditional Nahua communal and political organization”