Cintli
/ˈsint͡ɬi/noun
A Nahuatl word for maize or corn.
Did you know?In Nahuatl, cīntli was not just a food word but part of a sacred agricultural world where maize was tied to identity, ceremony, and divine sustenance.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Uto-Aztecan
PUA
*tɨnɨ
“Likely ancestral maize-related root in the Uto-Aztecan family”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
cīntli
“Maize; corn”
16th Century
Spanish
cintli
“Recorded as a Nahuatl loanword in colonial sources”
Modern English
English
cintli
“A borrowed scholarly/transliterated term for maize in Nahuatl contexts”