Coatl
/ˈkoʊ.ɑːtəl/noun
A Nahuatl word meaning “serpent” or “twin,” also used in English in references to Aztec and Mesoamerican culture.
Did you know?In Nahuatl, *coātl* could mean either “snake” or “twin,” a duality reflected in names such as Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Proto-Nahuan
*coātl
“Reconstructed ancestor of the Nahuatl word for serpent or twin”
14th–16th Century
Classical Nahuatl
coātl
“Serpent, snake; also twin”
16th Century
Spanish
coatl
“A Spanish-recorded Nahuatl term, especially in descriptions of Indigenous religion and culture”
19th–20th Century
English
coatl
“A specialized loanword used in historical, anthropological, and mythological writing”
Modern English
English
Coatl
“A Nahuatl cultural and mythological term, often appearing in names of deities and sacred figures”
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