Tlacuilo
/t͡ɬaˈkʷi.lo/noun
In Nahuatl culture, a tlacuilo was a scribe, painter, or recorder who created written and painted records.
Did you know?Tlacuilos produced codices for temples, rulers, and tribute systems, so their work was both administrative and ceremonial, binding memory to authority.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
tlahcuilo
“scribe; painter; writer”
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
tlahcuiloa
“to write, paint, or draw”
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
cuiloa
“to paint, write, inscribe”
Proto-Uto-Aztecan
PUA
*kʷiɬa
“to write, paint, carve (reconstructed root; scholarly reconstruction varies)”
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