Meaning & use
chasqui
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Meanings
nouncountable
A runner who carried messages and small goods along the roads of the Inca Empire.
Grammar: Countable noun: use 'a chasqui' for one runner and 'chasquis' for several.
Patterns
- a chasqui carried something
- the chasquis ran along something
- a relay of chasquis
A chasqui carried a message from the coast to the highlands in only a few days.
The chasquis worked in relays, handing their quipu to the next runner at a roadside post.
Historians describe how a chasqui could cover long stretches of mountain road on foot.
nouncountablespecialist
A relay station or resting post on an Inca road where these runners passed on their messages.
Grammar: Countable and much rarer than the 'runner' sense; the plural is 'chasquis' too.
Patterns
- stop at a chasqui
- build a chasqui along a road
Archaeologists identified a small chasqui beside the stone highway.
Each chasqui stood within sight of the next one along the route.
Word forms
| plural | chasquis |
|---|
Common combinations
- a chasqui runner
- A chasqui runner could deliver fresh fish from the sea to the emperor's table.
- carry a message by chasqui
- News of the rebellion was carried by chasqui to the capital.
- the chasqui relay system
- The chasqui relay system allowed word to travel hundreds of miles in days.
- send a chasqui
- The governor sent a chasqui north with an urgent report.
- a network of chasquis
- A network of chasquis linked the far corners of the empire.
- the chasqui road
- Walkers can still follow parts of the old chasqui road today.
Synonyms and how they differ
- courier
- A general modern word for someone who delivers messages or packages; it fits any country and period, while 'chasqui' belongs specifically to the Inca world.
- messenger
- The broadest everyday term for a person who carries a message; it says nothing about running or about the Andes, so it is vaguer than 'chasqui'.
- runner
- Describes the physical action rather than the job; use it when you mean the running, and 'chasqui' when you mean the Inca postal role.
Word family
- quipu noun
- A knotted-cord record that Inca messengers often carried.
- Inca proper noun
- Relating to the empire whose roads the chasquis used.
Commonly confused: chasqui or chaski? chasqui or Nazca?
chasqui vs chaski
A common alternative spelling of the same Quechua word; both appear in English writing, so do not treat one as a mistake.
chasqui vs Nazca
The name of a different ancient Peruvian culture and its famous lines; it sounds vaguely similar but has nothing to do with messengers.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'chasqui' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Chasqui' is a countable noun meaning an Inca message runner, so option A fits. Option C invents a verb, option B describes the wrong object, and option D uses the singular form where the plural 'chasquis' is needed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “chasqui”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.