Mixtec
/ˈmiːks.tɛk/noun
A member of an Indigenous people of southern Mexico, or the language they speak.
Did you know?The English name Mixtec comes through Spanish from the Nahuatl exonym Mixtecapan, while the people call themselves Ñuu Savi, meaning “people of the rain,” a name tied to deep ancestral identity rather than the colonial label.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian
Nahuatl
Mīxtecatl
“An inhabitant of the Mixteca region; later used as an exonym for the people”
Pre-Columbian
Nahuatl
Mīxtēcatl
“Often analyzed as “cloud-people” or “inhabitant of the cloud place,” though exact historical interpretation is debated”
16th Century
Spanish
mixteca
“Spanish form used for the region and its people in colonial records”
Modern English
English
Mixtec
“An Indigenous people of Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Puebla, Mexico, and their language”