Aztec
[az-tek]
- a member of a Nahuatl-speaking state in central Mexico that was conquered by Cortés in 1521.
- Also called classical Nahuatl. the variety of Nahuatl that served as the medium of Aztec civilization, aboriginally written in a chiefly pictographic script.Compare Nahuatl(def 2).
- the Nahuatl language.
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Origin of Aztec
1780–90; < Spanish azteca < Nahuatl aztēcah, plural of aztēcatl person from Aztlān, the legendary place of origin of the Aztecs
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for aztecs
Contemporary Examples
Before the 16thcentury, Spanish conquest, the Aztecs saw the skull as a symbol of rebirth.
Historical Examples
Did they resemble the Aztecs in these respects or the West Indians?
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
The Aztecs, the most powerful tribes, were continually at war with their neighbors.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
For in the ruins of the Aztecs of Mexico there are traces of a Phœnician language and religion.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
The Aztecs, and the Toltecs before them, had the fermented juice of the maguey plant.
Aztec LandMaturin M. Ballou
There the treasures of the Aztecs were hidden, and they have remained.
Frank Merriwell Down SouthBurt L. Standish
Aztec
- 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
- the language of the AztecsSee also Nahuatl
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- of, relating to, or characteristic of the Aztecs, their civilization, or their language
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Word Origin
C18: from Spanish Azteca, from Nahuatl Aztecatl, from Aztlan, their traditional place of origin, literally: near the cranes, from azta cranes + tlan near
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for aztecs
Aztec
1787, from Spanish Azteca, from Nahuatl aztecatl (plural aztecah), meaning "coming from Aztlan," name of their legendary place of origin, usually said to lie somewhere in what is now southwestern U.S.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Aztecs
A Native American people who ruled Mexico and neighboring areas before the Spaniards conquered the region in the sixteenth century. Starting in the twelfth century, they built up an advanced civilization and empire. (See Hernando Cortés and Montezuma.)
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.