Aztec
UK[ˈæz.tɛk]US[ˈæz.tɛk]
n
A member of the Nahuatl-speaking people who founded the Mexican empire conquered by the Spanish in the early 16th century.
adj
Relating to the Aztecs or their language, culture, or empire.
Etymology
The term 'Aztec' originates from the Nahuatl word 'aztecatl', meaning 'person from Aztlan'. Aztlan was the mythical ancestral homeland of the Nahuatl-speaking peoples who migrated to the Valley of Mexico. The Spanish adopted and adapted the term as 'Azteca', which then entered English. While the original 'aztecatl' is analyzable in Nahuatl, in English it functions as an unsegmentable simplex noun referring to the specific historical civilization and its people.
Analysis
The word 'Aztec' is a simplex loanword from Spanish. It is not productively formed from separable English morphemes.
Examples
The Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, was built on an island in Lake Texcoco.
Aztec art and architecture are renowned for their complexity and symbolic depth.
Scholars study the Aztec language, Nahuatl, to understand their codices and history.