Tlazolli
/t͡ɬaˈsoːlːi/noun
A Nahuatl word meaning filth, dirt, or refuse; by extension, something morally or spiritually corrupt.
Did you know?In Nahuatl, tlazolli could describe both literal waste and the kind of social or spiritual corruption that had to be ritually cleansed, showing how language itself encoded purity and pollution.
Etymological Timeline
Classical Nahuatl
Nah
tlazolli
“filth, refuse, waste; corruption”
16th Century
Nah
tlazolli
“filth, dirt, rubbish; also moral impurity or vice”
Colonial Spanish
Spa
tlazolli
“recorded in Nahuatl vocabularies as filth or refuse”
Modern English
Eng
tlazolli
“borrowed as a Nahuatl cultural term for filth or corruption”
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