Tlacotli
/t͡ɬaˈkot͡ɬi/noun
A Nahuatl word used for a servant or slave.
Did you know?In Nahuatl, words for rank and obligation were deeply tied to social reality, and Spanish chroniclers recorded tlacotli as part of the vocabulary of bondage in the Aztec world.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
tlacotli
“servant; slave”
Pre-Classic / Proto-Nahuan
Uto-Aztecan
*tlaːko-
“to be tied to, bound, or attached (reconstructed root, uncertain details)”
16th Century
Nah
tlacotli
“recorded in colonial-era Nahuatl texts as a term for a servant or slave”
Modern English
English
tlacotli
“a loanword used in discussions of Nahuatl language, history, or Aztec society”
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