Xochimilco
/soʊ.tʃiˈmiːl.koʊ/noun
A borough of Mexico City known for its canals, floating gardens, and chinampa agriculture.
Did you know?The name preserves the worldview of the Mexica: Xochimilco was famed for chinampas, highly productive artificial agricultural plots often misleadingly called “floating gardens.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Nahuan
Proto-Nahuan
*xōchitl
“Flower”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
xōchitl
“Flower or blossom”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
mīlli
“Cultivated field or agricultural plot”
Classical Nahuatl
Nahuatl
xōchimil-co
“At the flower fields; xōchimil(li) plus the locative suffix -co”
16th Century
Spanish
Xochimilco
“Recorded colonial place-name for the Nahuatl settlement”
Modern English
English
Xochimilco
“The borough and canal region of Mexico City”
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