Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Originally the generic name for the spirits thought by the Peruvian Indians to be disseminated through the whole visible and perceptible world; also applied to every object, natural or artificial, supposed to be the abode of such a spirit.
- noun A fetish. The sun, moon, and stars, all meteorologic phenomena, the mountains, rivers, in short, everything striking in nature, and every idol, were huaca.
- noun An aboriginal ruin: now the common use of the word. Any ruin of ancient Indian architecture is a huaca. See
huaco .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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In parts of highland Peru it is called huaca, the Quechua name for grave, because of the belief that those intoxicated with the plant are able to divine the location of the tombs of their ancestors.
The Serpent and the Rainbow Wade Davis 1985
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The most interesting is called the huaca larga, or long temple.
SaltShaker 2010
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About 100 feet away rose the Inka-era huaca they were about to assault.
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Two kilometers northeast of Sacsayhuaman is Qenco, an important huaca or shrine.
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The meaning of this name is uncertain; huaca means sacred and willca means either sacred object or, in the Aymaran language spoken east of Cusco, sun.
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The Aztecs used the word "teotl" to express the name meaning; the Mayas, the word "ku;" the Peruvians, "huaca."
The Prehistoric World; or, Vanished races Emory Adams Allen
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At these words the _huaca_ turned its head to see who spoke, but, owing to the weight upon it, it could not see.
History of the Incas Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
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Before they got to the height where the rainbow was, they saw a _huaca_ which was a place of worship in human shape, near the rainbow.
History of the Incas Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa
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It seems that the general name among all the Peruvian people, for a sacred object, is huaca.
The Prehistoric World; or, Vanished races Emory Adams Allen
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One very celebrated huaca, at Chimu, was found to contain an enormous amount of gold vessels.
The Prehistoric World; or, Vanished races Emory Adams Allen
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