Kʼukʼulkan
/kukʼulˈkaːn/noun
Kʼukʼulkan is a feathered-serpent deity worshiped by the Maya, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula.
Did you know?Kʼukʼulkan was associated with wind, rain, rulership, and sacred knowledge, and his great temple at Chichén Itzá produces a serpent-like shadow during the equinoxes.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Mayan period
Proto-Mayan
*kʼukʼ
“Reconstructed root associated with feather or plume imagery”
Pre-Columbian period
Yucatec Maya
kʼukʼ
“Feather”
Pre-Columbian period
Yucatec Maya
kaan
“Serpent or snake”
Before the 16th century
Yucatec Maya
Kʼukʼulkan
“Feathered Serpent; the name of a major Maya deity”
16th Century
Spanish
Kukulcán
“Spanish colonial rendering of the Maya deity’s name”
Modern English
English
Kʼukʼulkan / Kukulkan
“The Maya feathered-serpent deity”
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