Tlapalli
/tɬaˈpa.li/noun
A Nahuatl word meaning "color," especially red, paint, or colored earth.
Did you know?In Nahuatl, tlapalli is part of a color system deeply tied to ritual life, and in some poetic contexts color itself could carry symbolic force rather than just visual description.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
tlapalli
“color; paint; colored substance, especially red pigment”
Post-Conquest Era
Nahuatl/Spanish
tlapalli
“recorded by Spanish chroniclers and dictionaries as a Nahuatl color term”
Modern English
English
tlapalli
“a borrowed Nahuatl word used in linguistic, historical, or cultural contexts”
Modern Scholarship
English
tlapalli
“discussed as a Nahuatl term for color and pigment in studies of Indigenous Mesoamerican language and symbolism”