Tlacatl
/ˈt͡ɬa.kat͡ɬ/noun
A Nahuatl word meaning a person, man, or human being.
Did you know?Tlacatl is an indigenous Nahuatl word, so its power comes not from occult Europe but from a living Mesoamerican language where naming a person was naming a whole social and spiritual being.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
tlācatl
“person; man; human being”
Modern Nahuatl
Nah
tlacatl
“person; man; human being”
Modern English
English
tlacatl
“loanword used in scholarly and cultural contexts for a Nahuatl term”
Modern English
English
tlācātl
“standardized academic transliteration of the Nahuatl form”
Explore more surprising origins