Inca

American  

[ing-kuh] / ˈɪŋ kə /

noun

1. a member of any of the dominant groups of South American Indian peoples who established an empire in Peru prior to the Spanish conquest.

2. a ruler or member of the royal family in the Incan empire.

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Inca British  

/ ˈɪŋkə /

noun

1. a member of a South American Indian people whose great empire centred on Peru lasted from about 1100 _ad to the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s and is famed for its complex culture

2. the ruler or king of this empire or any member of his family

3. the language of the Incas See also Quechua

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Other Word Forms

• Incaic adjective
• Incan noun
• pseudo-Incan adjective

Etymology

Origin of Inca

1585–95; < Spanish < Quechua inka ruler of the Inca state

Example Sentences

The two trains involved were operated by PeruRail and Inca Rail respectively.

From BBC

Two trains collided on the single track leading to the ancient Inca town on Tuesday, according to a statement from the local government.

From BBC

Fifteen people were injured when two trains crashed head-on Tuesday near the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru's top tourist attraction, police and train operators said.

From Barron's

Machu Picchu, the remains of a 15th Century Inca city, is Peru's most popular tourist destination, and a Unesco world heritage site.

From BBC

Together, the data support a new interpretation of Monte Sierpe as an Indigenous center for barter and exchange that may have evolved into an accounting system under Inca rule.

From Science Daily