ichpochtli

Central Nahuatl

Noun

ichpochtli

1. (Cholula) young woman

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• ychpuchtli (obsolete spelling)

Etymology

Karttunen notes that ichpōchtli (“maiden, young woman”) and coordinate tēlpōchtli (“young man”) both form the plural by reduplicating the pōch- element, which suggests that *pōchtli, though not attested freely, is a stem in its own right, and that *ich- acts as a modifier. The word acquired the sense of “virgin” after the Spanish conquest.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

ichpōchtli anim (plural ichpōpōchtin)

1. (she is) a maiden; a young, unwed woman.
   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 47r. col. 2:

     Donzella. ychpuchtli.

     A maiden. ychpuchtli.

   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 32v. col. 1:

     Ichpochtli. virgen,o muger por caſar.

     Ichpochtli. a virgin, or a woman yet to be married.

2. (she is) a virgin.
   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 117v. col. 2:

     Virgen o donzella.ocuel ychpuchtli.

     A virgin or maiden. ocuel ychpuchtli.

3. (when possessed) (she is) a daughter.

Synonyms

• (young woman): ichpōcatl

Derived terms

Related terms

• tēlpōchtli

References

• Frances Karttunen (1992) An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, University of Oklahoma Press, page 93
• Horacio Carochi (2001) Grammar of the Mexican language with an explanation of its adverbs (1645), Stanford University Press, page 502

Guerrero Nahuatl

Noun

ichpochtli

1. young woman, miss.