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Glite Dictionary
🏛️ A people or culture 🧑‍🌾 A native person
Aztec

Aztec

43 5.7
People who lived in central Mexico before the Spanish arrived and their culture
  • proper noun
  • /ˈæz.tɛk/
translation icon : azteca
  • However, central to all the people's existence, be they Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, or Aztec, was an essentially uniform religion.
  • Aztec calendar
  • Aztec capital
  • Aztec capital Tenochtitlan

We have the archaeology version, and we have the Aztecs themselves.

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Examples

  • In spite of the epidemic, the Aztec repelled the Spanish siege for three months.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • This object came to be known as the Aztec death whistle.

  • The military forces of the Aztecs and their allies were organized into a series of units.

    Academic text (1992)

  • I remembered the stories she told me of the Aztec prince, Cuauhtemoc.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Along its innumerable streets and canals, this constantly moving anthill was the center of the Aztec Empire.

  • Well, the Aztecs were doing just fine until Cortés showed up.

    Cosmic Sin (2021)

  • The ancient pyramids in Mexico were built by the Aztecs as part of their impressive civilization.

  • Many historical artifacts from the Aztecs can be found in museums dedicated to pre-Columbian cultures.

  • The Aztecs developed advanced agricultural techniques, including chinampas, or floating gardens, to sustain their population.

Synonyms

Mexica
vsAztec
2 9.9

A person from the native people who founded and ruled the Aztec Empire in central Mexico

is the broader preconquest civilization of central Mexico
Nahua
vsAztec
9.8

A person from a native group in central Mexico who speaks Nahuatl

refers to the historical civilization in that region before the conquest
Nahuatl
vsAztec
9.9

A person from central Mexico with Aztec ancestors

means the earlier preconquest civilization rather than modern descendant groups

Compounds

Aztec lily
  • US
9.7

A Mexican bulb plant grown for a large bright red single flower

Aztec marigold
  • US
6.9

A bushy annual plant with large yellow or orange flowers used in gardens

Surface Forms

Aztec main

Etymology

Aztec comes from Spanish Azteca and the Nahuatl Aztecah, meaning 'people from Aztlan', a legendary homeland sometimes called the 'place of the herons'. So Aztec is used for the people themselves and for their civilization before the Spanish arrived.