Kʼukʼulkan
/kʼukʼulkáːn/noun
A Maya deity depicted as a feathered serpent, especially associated with Yucatán.
Did you know?Kʼukʼulkan is the Yucatec Maya counterpart of the broader Mesoamerican feathered-serpent deity tradition, closely associated with Quetzalcoatl but not simply the same name in another language.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Mayan period
Proto-Mayan
*kʼukʼ
“A reconstructed root associated with feather or plumage in Mayan languages.”
Pre-Columbian Maya
Maya
kʼukʼ
“Feather, especially the brilliant plumage of a bird.”
Pre-Columbian Maya
Maya
kaan
“Serpent or snake.”
Postclassic period
Yucatec Maya
Kʼukʼulkan
“A divine feathered-serpent figure; the name combines kʼukʼ, “feather,” with kaan, “serpent.””
16th Century
Colonial Spanish
Kukulcán
“Spanish-written form of the Maya deity’s name, recorded in accounts of Yucatán.”
Modern English
English
Kʼukʼulkan
“The Maya feathered-serpent deity, also written Kukulkan or Kukulcán.”
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