coatl

Classical Nahuatl

The glyph for the day sign "snake" in the Codex Magliabechiano.

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• cohuatl
• couatl

Pronunciation

• IPA: /koː(w)aːtɬ/

Karttunen (1983), Lockhart (2001) and Andrews (2003) all write cōātl, but Lockhart says "that the ō is long is dubious."

Noun

cōātl (plural cōcōah)

1. Snake.
   • 1555: Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca vn vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana

     f. 60r: Culebra generalmente. coatl.

     f. 224v: Serpiente generalmente. coatl.

   • 16C: Bernardino de Sahagún, "Florentine Codex", book 1

     Auh in pipiltotonti muchintin qujntlaxqujaia: yn aca coatl

     (And all the little children roasted some snakes)

   • c1609: Tezozomoc, Chimalpahin, Cronica mexicayotl, f. 22r

     camo çan quexquich yn ompa onoque yn ompa tlapia yn tequanime yn cuecuetlachtin. yn ocelome. yn mimiztin yn cocohua

     (Countless fierce animals were there; bears, jaguars, mountain lions, snakes were on guard.)

2. Twin.
   • 1555: Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca vn vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana

     Nacido con otro. coatl.

3. A day sign.

Derived terms

cihuacoatl coamichin coanotza coatequitl

coatetl Coatlan Coatl Ichan tlilcoatl

Mixcoatl petlazolcoatl Quetzalcoatl

References

• 2003, Andrews, J. Richard, Workbook for Introduction to Classical Nahuatl, edition rev. ed., Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, page p. 213:
• 1997, Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón, Codex Chimalpahin, ed. and trans. by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, page pp. 70–71:
• 1983, Karttunen, Frances, An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl, Austin: University of Texas Press, page p. 36:
• 2001, Lockhart, James, Nahuatl as Written: Lessons in Older Written Nahautl, with Copious Examples and Texts, Stanford: Stanford University Press, page p. 215:
• 1981, Sahagún, Bernardino de, Florentine Codex: Book 1 - The Gods, ed. and trans. by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble, edition 2nd ed., rev., Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, page p. 30:

Usage notes

The coatl has been related in Aztec mythology and literature to represent the concrete. The opposite is the quetzal, which represents spirit. Things that relate to the coatl are corporeal and tangible.