Aztecs

Cultural  

1. 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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Example Sentences

“When the Spanish would approach a town, she would tell the people: ... ‘You can join the Spanish and help bring down the Aztecs.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 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

After the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs, Mexico’s European overlords used its silver and its agricultural wealth to nourish their global enterprises.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

Díaz Barriga’s contributions included details on how clothing differed depending on the person’s social class, and letting the production know that the Aztecs didn’t have chairs, tables or doors in their daily lives.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2025

The dogs that the Aztecs and Polynesians reared for food were efficiently fattened on vegetables and garbage.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond