tlacuatzin
Classical Nahuatl
Alternative forms
- tlaquatzin (obsolete)
Etymology
Equivalent to tlacuatl (“opossum”) + -tzin (diminutive). Cf. Highland Puebla Nahuatl tacua̱tzi̱n[sic], Mecayapan Nahuatl tacuatzi̱n, Tetelcingo Nahuatl tlacuatzi.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [t͜ɬaˈkʷat͜sin]
Noun
tlacuatzin
- opossum
- Synonyms: tlacuatl, tlacuaton, tlatlacuaton
- [16C, Bernardino de Sahagún, editor, Historia general de las cosas de nueva España, volume 3 (in Spanish), page 12v:
- Ay vna anjmalejo que se llama tlaquatl o tlaquatzin
- There is a small animal that is called tlaquatl or tlaquatzin]
- [1651, Francisco Hernández, Rerum medicarum Novae Hispaniae thesaurus, seu plantarum animalium mineralium Mexicanorum historia (in Latin), Romae: Ex typographeio Vitalis Mascardi, page 330:
- ANIMAL eſt Tlaquatzin canis parui forma & magnitudine
- The Tlaquatzin is an animal with the shape and size of a small dog]
References
- “tlacuatzin” in the Nahuatl Dictionary, University of Oregon, 2011.