Otomitl
/o.toˈmitɬ/noun
A Classical Nahuatl term for an Otomi person, an Indigenous inhabitant of central Mexico.
Did you know?Otomitl was an exonym— a name used by Nahuatl speakers for the Otomi—while the Otomi people traditionally use their own self-designations, including hñähñu in some communities.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian period
Proto-Otomi
Unknown self-designation
“The Otomi language family predates the Nahuatl label, but the precise earlier form of the people’s self-name is not securely reconstructable.”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
otomitl
“An Otomi person; a term used by Nahuatl speakers for the Otomi people.”
16th Century
Spanish
otomí
“Spanish adaptation of Nahuatl otomitl, referring to an Otomi person or the Otomi people.”
17th–19th Centuries
Spanish
otomí
“An ethnonym and language name in colonial and later Mexican writing.”
Modern English
English
Otomi/Otomí
“The Indigenous people of central Mexico, their language, or anything relating to them.”