Nahuatl
Americannoun
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Nahuatls,
plural
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Nahuatl
plural
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a member of any of various peoples of ancient origin ranging from southeastern Mexico to parts of Central America and including the Aztecs.
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a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by over half a million people mostly in central Mexico.
adjective
noun
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a member of one of a group of Central American and Mexican Indian peoples including the Aztecs
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the language of these peoples, belonging to the Uto-Aztecan family
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of Nahuatl
1815–25; < Spanish náhuatl < Nahuatl nāhuatl something that makes an agreeable sound, a second-language speaker of one's own language
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.
See Examples For:
They have named the month-old female Xoco, a Nahuatl name meaning "little sister" or "the youngest child".
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Over the next two hours, the audience snapped their fingers, applauded, hooted in approval or nodded as speakers poured out their proverbial hearts in English, Spanish and Nahuatl.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025
The gallery’s namesake is Nepantla, a Nahuatl word that means “in the middle,” which Prendez describes as the place where one heals, rejuvenates or creates.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
Popocatepetl, meaning "Smoking Hill" in the native Aztec language Nahuatl, is one of the world's most closely monitored volcanoes.
From Reuters ● May 22, 2023
“Olmec,” though, is a word in Nahuatl, the language of the Mexica to the north.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
The designation "Nahuatls" proposed to include all the Mexican, Western Central American, and Peruvian races that had descended from the same ancient stock.
From The Naturalist in Nicaragua by Belt, Thomas
The practice of the couvade was universal, in some form or other, amongst the Carib races, but was unknown amongst the peoples whom I have called the Nahuatls.
From The Naturalist in Nicaragua by Belt, Thomas
The Nahuatls distinct from the Caribs on one side and the Red Indians on the other.
From The Naturalist in Nicaragua by Belt, Thomas
Nahuatls distinct from the Caribs on one side and the Red Indians on the other.—Discussion of the question of the peopling of America.
From The Naturalist in Nicaragua by Belt, Thomas
Let us now return to the Nahuatls, and see if they present any affinities to the nations of the old world.
From The Naturalist in Nicaragua by Belt, Thomas
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.
