Cihuateteo
/siːˌwɑːtɛˈteɪoʊ/noun
In Aztec religion, the spirits of women who died in childbirth, believed to descend on certain days and cause misfortune.
Did you know?In Nahuatl belief, women who died giving birth were honored as warrior-like spirits, and their appearances were tied to dangerous calendrical times when the boundary between worlds thinned.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
cihuātēteō
“divine women; spirits of women who died in childbirth”
16th Century
Nah
cihuateteo
“recorded in colonial-era Nahuatl sources as a class of feared female spirits”
16th Century
Spanish
cihuateteo
“transcribed into Spanish-language accounts of Nahua religion”
Modern English
English
Cihuateteo
“the name used in English for the Aztec female spirits of women who died in childbirth”
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