Mictlán Tēcuhtli
/mik.t͡ɬãːn teː.kʷt͡ɬi/noun
The Nahua lord or ruler of Mictlān, the underworld of the dead.
Did you know?Mictlān was not simply a place of eternal punishment: in Nahua cosmology, the dead undertook a perilous four-year journey through its regions before reaching their final destination.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Classical Nahuatl
mictlān tēcuhtli
“Lord of Mictlān; the ruler associated with the realm of the dead”
Pre-Columbian period
Classical Nahuatl
mictlān
“The land or place of the dead; the Nahua underworld”
Pre-Columbian period
Classical Nahuatl
micqui / miqui
“Dead person / to die; the root associated with death in mictlān”
Pre-Columbian period
Classical Nahuatl
tēcuhtli
“Lord, noble, or ruler”
16th Century
Spanish transcription
Mictlantecuhtli
“A Spanish colonial spelling of the compound name, often written as one word”
Modern English
English
Mictlán Tēcuhtli
“The Aztec or Nahua lord of the underworld, commonly called Mictlantecuhtli”