Tlaltecuhtli
/t͡ɬal.teˈkʷt͡ɬi/noun
An Aztec earth deity associated with the ground, fertility, and the underworld.
Did you know?In Mexica cosmology, Tlaltecuhtli was imagined as a primordial earth monster/deity whose body formed the world, a reminder that creation in Mesoamerican myth could be violent and sacred at the same time.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
tlālli + teuctli
““earth” + “lord, noble one””
Postclassic Mesoamerica
Nah
Tlālteuctli / Tlaltecuhtli
“the Earth Lord, a deity of the ground and underworld”
16th Century
Spa
Tlaltecuhtli
“recorded in Spanish colonial sources as a Nahuatl divine name”
Modern English
Eng
Tlaltecuhtli
“the name used in English for the Aztec earth deity”
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