Aztec
Americannoun
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a member of a Nahuatl-speaking state in central Mexico that was conquered by Cortés in 1521.
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Also called classical Nahuatl. the variety of Nahuatl that served as the medium of Aztec civilization, aboriginally written in a chiefly pictographic script.
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the Nahuatl language.
noun
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a member of a Mexican Indian people who established a great empire, centred on the valley of Mexico, that was overthrown by Cortés and his followers in the early 16th century
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the language of the Aztecs See also Nahuatl
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Aztec
1780–90; < Spanish azteca < Nahuatl aztēcah, plural of aztēcatl person from Aztlān, the legendary place of origin of the Aztecs
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rather than recapitulate historical chronicles, Mr. Enrigue imagines the event from the Aztec point of view, creating an account that is gory, hallucinatory and thrilling in its strangeness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026
While her birthplace was not in the Aztec domain, it was an area where Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, was spoken, along with regional tongues.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026
If they progress to the last 16 having won their group, they would potentially face co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City's famous Aztec Stadium if they had also topped their group and won a last-32 match.
From BBC • Dec. 5, 2025
Over 100 actors, singers, Aztec dancers and local community members will take the stage to perform the miraculous tale through song and dance.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025
The Aztec and Inca Empires were formed by 15th-century conquests, before Europeans arrived, but we know much about their formation from Indian oral histories transcribed by early Spanish settlers.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
