Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Aztec |
AztecNoun1. A member of the Nahuatl people who established an empire in Mexico that was overthrown by Cortes in 1519. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "Aztec" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
Crosswords: Aztec |
| English words defined with "Aztec": Aztecan ♦ chihuahua ♦ Montezuma II ♦ Quetzalcoatl. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "Aztec": smoke and mirrors. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The Aztecs are a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico tribe with a rich mythology and cultural heritage. In Nahuatl, the native language of the Aztecs, "Aztec" means "someone who comes from Aztlán". The Aztec also referred to themselves as the Mehika or Meshika or Mexica, the origin of the name "Mexico". The modern usage of the name Aztec as a collective term, applied to all the peoples linked by trade, custom, religion, and language to the Mexica was suggested by Alexander von Humboldt.
|
When Tezozomoc died, his son Maxtla assassinated Chimalpopoca whose uncle Itzcoatl allied with ex-ruler of Texcoco, Nezhualcouyotl and besieged Maxtla's capital Azcapotzalco. Maxtla surrendered after 100 days and went to exile. Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlapocan formed an alliance that came to dominate the Valley of Mexico, and then extend its power beyond. Tenochtitlan gradually became the dominant power in the alliance.
Itzcoatl's nephew Motecuhzoma I inherited the throne in 1449 and expanded the realm. His son Axayacatl (1469) surrounded the kingdom of Axayacatl and took control of Mixtechs and Zapotecs. In 1481 his son Tizoc ruled briefly before he was replaced by his younger brother Ahuitzol who reorganized the army. The empire was in its largest during his reign. His successor was Motecuhzoma II (better know as Moctezuma II)
The Aztec Empire is not completely accurate analogy to the empires of European history. It was ethnically very diverse. The most important official of Tenochtitlan government is often called The Aztec Emperor. His title huey tlatoque translates as Chief Speaker. This office gradually took on more power with the rise of Tenochtitlan, and by the time of Auitzotl "Emperor" is an appropriate analogy.
Aztec military had a equivalent to military service with a core of professional warriors. Once an Aztec warrior had captured 4-5 captives, he could attain a rank of Eagle of Jaguar warrior.
Aztecs staple foods included maize, beans and squash. They also used maguey extensively. Use of cotton and jewelry was restricted to the use of the elite. Cocoa grains were used as money. Subjugated cities paid annual tribute in form of luxury goods like feathers and adorned suits.
The Aztecs created artificial islands or chinampas on the Tenochtitlan lake on which they cultivated.
Aztecs are notorious for their religious human sacrifice that they performed in great numbers. Aztecs waged "flower wars" to capture prisoners to sacrifices they called nextlaualli, "debt payment to the gods" so that the sun could rise every morning. Harvard professor David Carrasco has compared this practice to "bringing home the war" in modern television.
Materialist anthropologist Marvin Harris has suggested that the flesh of the victims was a part of aristocratic diet as reward, since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins. According to him, the Aztec economy couldn't support feeding them as slaves, so the columns of prisoners were "marching meat". Most other historians of Mesoamerica believe that while there was ritual cannibalism related to human sacrifices, human flesh was never a significant portion of the Aztec diet.The Empire
Sacrifices
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Aztec."
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Aztec Treasure (1914) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Theater & Movies | |||
High Tech |
| ||
Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Aztec Monument near Summer Lake, Oregon. Credit: Unknown. |  | Aztec Ruins National Monument. Credit: NPS. |
 | Views in the cañons of the Colorado River and among the Aztec cities of Arizona. Our "brown stone front" at Oribay [i.e. Oraibi]. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Aztec calendar stone. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Aztec idol, Teoyaomiqui [Coatlicue (statue)]. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Aztec sacrificial stone, City of Mexico. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Mexico, Aztec idol, Teoyaomiqui [Coatlicue (statue)]. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | El Salvador | Otherwise, their culture was similar to that of their Aztec neighbors. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Aztec" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 84.38% of the time. "Aztec" is used about 32 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 84.38% | 27 | 66,962 |
| Noun (proper) | 9.38% | 3 | 202,518 |
| Noun (singular) | 6.25% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 32 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | Aztec Technology Partners, Inc. |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
1. Aztec, NM (city, FIPS 5780) |
Expressions using "Aztec": aztec lily ♦ aztec marigold. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
aztec | 3,072 | aztec empire | 71 |
pontiac aztec | 533 | aztec religion | 70 |
aztec calendar | 482 | aztec pyramid | 65 |
aztec art | 340 | aztec modem | 60 |
aztec tattoo | 337 | aztec empire map | 60 |
aztec picture | 225 | aztec design | 58 |
aztec god | 153 | aztec name | 56 |
aztec indian | 138 | aztec sun | 55 |
aztec history | 123 | aztec camera | 54 |
aztec symbol | 119 | aztec calendar picture | 51 |
aztec culture | 114 | used pontiac aztec | 49 |
the aztec | 101 | aztec mythology | 48 |
aztec warrior | 100 | aztec ruin | 47 |
aztec new mexico | 97 | aztec rental | 46 |
aztec civilization | 94 | aztec temple | 44 |
ancient aztec | 90 | 32 aztec bacs | 43 |
aztec lighting | 89 | aztec for sale | 43 |
pontiac aztec review | 77 | aztec image | 42 |
ancient aztec conquest spanish | 73 | aztec sacrifice | 40 |
aztec drawing | 71 | aztec power supply | 40 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "Aztec"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaans | Astekies. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | azték, aztécký. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | Azteeks. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Esperanto | asteka. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | aztèque. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | aztekisch. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ταγίτης (african marigold, Aztec marigold, big marigold, french marigold). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | azték személy, azték nyelv. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | azteco. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | アステカ族 (ASPAC, asparagus, asterisk, astringent, astringent lotion, Astrodome, astrology, astronaut, astro-rama). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | アステック , アステカぞく. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | Asteckagh. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | aztecay asteca. (various references) ацтек. (various references) astek, astečki. (various references) azteca. (various references) aztek. (various references) aztek. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misspellings | |
"Aztec" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aituc, Antech, Aptech, Artech, Asec, astec, Atbc, atec, Azato, Azeem, Azem, Aztech, Saztec. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-e-t-z" | |
-1 letter: cate, tace, zeta. | |
-2 letters: ace, act, ate, cat, eat, eta, tae, tea. | |
-3 letters: ae, at, et, ta. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-e-t-z" | |
+2 letters: ectozoa, zincate. | |
+3 letters: activize, azotemic, canzonet, catalyze, craziest, ectozoan, metazoic, zincates. | |
+4 letters: activized, activizes, actualize, bacterize, canzonets, cartelize, catalyzed, catalyzer, catalyzes, catechize, cauterize, cicatrize, ectozoans, enzymatic, factorize, italicize, narcotize, ostracize. | |
+5 letters: actualized, actualizes, bacterized, bacterizes, capitalize, cartelized, cartelizes, catabolize, catalyzers, catechized, catechizer, catechizes, categorize, cauterized, cauterizes, centralize, cicatrized, cicatrizes, cinematize, crystalize, czarevitch, eczematous, factorized, factorizes, fanaticize, hoactzines, italicized, italicizes, mycetozoan, narcotized, narcotizes, ostracized, ostracizes, plasticize, schematize, schmaltzes. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Names: Company Usage 10. Cities 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Derivations 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
