Mexico
/ˈmɛksɪkoʊ/noun
A country in North America, and the name of its capital city.
Did you know?The name ultimately comes from Nahuatl Mēxihco, the Aztec name for their capital, commonly analyzed as meaning something like 'place of Mexihtli' or 'in the navel of the moon,' though the exact etymology is debated.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian era
Nahuatl
Mēxihco
“The name of the Mexica/Aztec capital region, later generalized to the nation”
16th Century
Spanish
México
“Spanish form of the indigenous place name”
16th-17th Century
English
Mexico
“The Spanish colony and later the country”
Modern English
English
Mexico
“The sovereign nation in North America”