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

1. opossum

   Synonyms: tlacuatl, tlacuaton, tlatlacuaton

   • [16th century, 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.