Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A sacrificial knife, a broad double-edged blade, usually of flint, sometimes of obsidian, used by the Aztecs of Mexico.
Etymologies
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Examples
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We notice he was chief-of-men from the year one calli to two tecpatl.
The Prehistoric World; or, Vanished races Emory Adams Allen
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The little dot is one, so this day one tecpatl probably refers to the day in which the feast in reference to this destruction was celebrated.
The Prehistoric World; or, Vanished races Emory Adams Allen
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He is distinctly said to be the same as Quetzalcoatl, one of whose commonest symbols was a flint (tecpatl).
The Myths of the New World A Treatise on the Symbolism and Mythology of the Red Race of America Daniel Garrison Brinton 1868
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Borgian Codex, one of which is shown in plate LXV, 6, are _tecpatl_ figures; of this, however, there is considerable doubt.
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_kan_ and the Mexican symbol for _tecpatl_, "flint," are based on the same fundamental concept, if the flint-like symbols on plate 12 of the
vendingmachine commented on the word tecpatl
n. A sacrificial knife used by the Aztecs of Mexico.
The knife was usually made of flint, sometimes of obsidian with a lanceolate figure and a double-edged blade, with elongated ends. Both ends could be rounded or pointed, but other designs were made with a blade attached to a handle. The top half was often red, reminiscent of the color of blood, in representations of human sacrifice and the rest white, indicating the color of the flint blade.
Even though the tecpatl knife was traditionally used for human sacrifice, it also was the short-range weapon of the jaguar warriors. Although it may have seen only limited use on the battlefield, its sharp edges would have made it an effective sidearm.
--wikipedia
June 29, 2015