Xoloitzcuintli
/ˌʃoʊloʊɪtsˈkwiːntli/noun
A nearly hairless dog breed native to Mexico, also called the Mexican hairless dog.
Did you know?In Mexica religious belief, dogs could accompany the dead through the afterlife, while Xolotl was a death-associated deity linked with the evening star and the underworld.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Columbian Nahuatl
Nahuatl
xōlōtl + itzcuintli
“Xolotl, a deity associated with death and transformation, + dog”
16th Century
Classical Nahuatl
xōlōitzcuintli
“Xolotl’s dog; the name for the distinctive Mexican dog”
16th Century
Spanish
xoloitzcuintle
“A dog of Indigenous Mexican origin, recorded in Spanish descriptions of New Spain”
19th–20th Century
English
xoloitzcuintli / xoloitzcuintle
“A Mexican hairless dog breed”
Modern English
English
Xoloitzcuintli
“The standardized breed name, often shortened informally to Xolo”
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