Tecuani
/teˈkwaːni/noun
A Nahuatl word meaning a wild beast or predatory animal, especially a jaguar.
Did you know?In Nahuatl tradition, tecuani was used for dangerous predatory animals, and the word’s human-eating sense shows how language can turn fear into a name of power.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
tecuani
“a man-eating beast, wild predator”
Postclassic Mesoamerica
Nah
tecuani
“used for feared carnivorous animals, especially the jaguar”
16th Century
Nah
tecuani
“recorded in early colonial Nahuatl sources with the sense of a ferocious beast”
Modern English
English
tecuani
“a borrowed Nahuatl word used in historical, linguistic, or cultural contexts”