Meaning & use
Nahuatl
Last updated
Meaning
proper nounproper
A group of related Indigenous languages of central Mexico, including the language of the Aztec Empire, still spoken by over a million people.
Grammar: Used without an article for the language: she speaks Nahuatl.
Patterns
- speak Nahuatl
- translate something into Nahuatl
Many Mexican villages still teach children to speak Nahuatl.
The word chocolate probably comes from a Nahuatl word.
She studied Nahuatl so she could read old Aztec manuscripts.
Common combinations
- speak Nahuatl
- His grandmother speaks Nahuatl at home.
- Nahuatl word
- Avocado is a Nahuatl word that came into English through Spanish.
- Nahuatl speakers
- There are more than a million Nahuatl speakers in Mexico.
- classical Nahuatl
- The scholar translated texts written in classical Nahuatl.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Aztec language
- Aztec language is an older, less precise phrase for the Nahuatl spoken in the Aztec Empire.
- Mexicano
- Mexicano is the name some speakers use for their own language.
Word family
- Nahua proper noun
- a people who speak Nahuatl
- Aztec proper noun
- the people of a great empire in central Mexico
Commonly confused: Nahuatl or Aztec?
Nahuatl vs Aztec
Aztec is a people and empire, while Nahuatl is the language they spoke.
Practice
Which of these is the Indigenous language of central Mexico once spoken in the Aztec Empire?
Choose one answer.
Nahuatl was the language of the Aztec Empire. Quechua is from the Andes and Guarani is from Paraguay.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Nahuatl”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.