nahual
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word nahual. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word nahual, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say nahual in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word nahual you have here. The definition of the word nahual will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofnahual, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish nahual, from Classical Nahuatl nāhualli (“sorcerer, spirit, animal form a person may take”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nəˈwɑːl/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Hyphenation: na‧hual
Noun
nahual (plural nahuals) (Mesoamerican mythology)
- An animal form which a person may take.
- She has a nahual for every day of the week.
- (Mesoamerican mythology) A person who is able to take an animal form.
- They suspected that the man was a nahual.
Derived terms
See also
Spanish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl nāhualli (“sorcerer”).
Pronunciation
Noun
nahual m (plural nahuales)
- (Central America, Mexico) sorcerer
- (Central America, Mexico) healer, witch doctor
- Synonym: curandero
- (in Mesoamerican mythology) nahual (animal form which a person may take)
- Synonym: tonal
- (in Mesoamerican mythology) nahual (person able to take animal form)
Descendants
- → English: nahual
References
- Carlos Montemayor et al. (2009) Diccionario del náhuatl en el español de México, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, page 93
Further reading
- “nahual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28