Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A record-keeping device of the Inca Empire consisting of a series of variously colored strings attached to a base rope and knotted so as to encode information, used especially for accounting purposes.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Quechua khipu, knot.]

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