Teōtl
/ˈte.oːtɬ/noun
A Classical Nahuatl term meaning a deity, sacred power, or divine force.
Did you know?Teōtl was not limited to a distant creator deity; in Aztec religious thought, it could refer to a dynamic sacred power manifesting through gods, places, objects, and rituals.
Etymological Timeline
Before 1521
Classical Nahuatl
teōtl
“Deity, divine power, or sacred force”
16th Century
Spanish
teotl
“A colonial-era transcription of the Nahuatl religious term”
16th–17th Centuries
Nahuatl
teōtl
“A term used in Indigenous Christian and pre-Christian religious writing, sometimes translated as “God””
19th–20th Centuries
English
teotl / teōtl
“A scholarly and esoteric loanword referring to Nahuatl divinity or sacred power”
Modern English
English
teōtl
“A specialized term for divine or sacred power in discussions of Nahuatl religion”