Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A cord about 2 feet in length, tightly spun from variously colored threads, and having a number of smaller threads attached to it in the form of a fringe: used among the ancient Peruvians and elsewhere for recording events, etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A contrivance employed by the ancient Peruvians, Mexicans, etc., as a substitute for writing and figures, consisting of a main cord, from which hung at certain distances smaller cords of various colors, each having a special meaning, as silver, gold, corn, soldiers. etc. Single, double, and triple knots were tied in the smaller cords, representing definite numbers. It was chiefly used for arithmetical purposes, and to register important facts and events.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
recording device , used by theIncas , consisting ofintricate knotted cords .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun calculator consisting of a cord with attached cords; used by ancient Peruvians for calculating and keeping records
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Really, the word quipu scarcely enters the English language at all, unlike quinine or the edible seed quinoa, which if its current popularity continues may well end up pronounced kwiNOa in English KEENwah is preferred for the time being.
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It's possible that the majority of English speakers who know the word quipu pronounce it "kwipu", but most of them know it only as an obscure piece of historical trivia.
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It's possible that the majority of English speakers who know the word quipu pronounce it "kwipu", but most of them know it only as an obscure piece of historical trivia.
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So far as known, the quipu was the only mnemonic system in use in Peru.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 12: Philip II-Reuss 1840-1916 1913
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A quipu was a cord two feet long, composed of differently coloured threads twisted together, from which were hung a number of smaller threads, also differently coloured and tied in knots.
The Red True Story Book Andrew Lang 1900
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While the Inca developed a basic system of counting using bundled knotted strings known as quipu and an elaborate calendar, they did not use writing.
Safehaven 2009
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The "quipu," a knotted reckoning-cord, was in use in Peru and in China.
Atlantis : the antediluvian world Ignatius Donnelly 1866
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They did not have a written language; instead they used a cord with beads on it, called "quipu", used to record government business.
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The Incas of Peru, before the Conquest, had a whole system of “writing” based on a variation of knots in colored strings, the “khipu” or “quipu.”
Texture : A.E. Stallings : Harriet the Blog : The Poetry Foundation 2007
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Have rural information systems - the Incan quipu, the Australian songline - had the same status as urban ones?
Information, Culture, Policy, Education: History of information 2008
chained_bear commented on the word quipu
plural quipus really isn't pronounced the way it looks...
March 16, 2008
avivamagnolia commented on the word quipu
Quipu, khipu, or quipo (sometimes called talking knots) were recording devices used in the Inca Empire and its predecessor societies in the Andean region. A quipu usually consisted of colored spun and plied thread or strings from llama or alpaca hair. It also consisted of cotton cords with numeric and other values encoded by knots in a base ten positional system. Quipus may have just a few or up to 2,000 cords.
Quipu is the Spanish spelling and the most common spelling in English. Khipu (pronounced ˈkʰipu) is the word for "knot" in Cusco Quechua (the native Inca language; the kh is an aspirated k. In most Quechua varieties, the term is kipu. (Wikipedia)
January 18, 2009