Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A member of a Nahuatl-speaking people of central and southern Mexico whose empire flourished from the 10th century until it collapsed under invasion by the Aztecs in the 12th century.
- adj. Of or relating to the Toltec or their culture.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A member of a race of Mexico which, according to tradition, coming from the north, ruled the country from the seventh to the eleventh century, their power passing later to the Aztecs. The remains of Mexican architecture which have been ascribed to them consist principally of colossal pyramidal structures of adobe bricks—temples and buildings of great size and rude plan corresponding to the needs of a communal state of society. The last, which are elaborately decorated with rude sculpture in high relief, seem to show that the Toltecs were a people of some civilization; and there is reason to believe that they were acquainted with the arts of weaving, pottery, hieroglyphic writing, and perhaps with that of working metals. Their religion is said to have been mild, and their laws just. Their civilization was overlain by that of the Aztecs, who ingrafted on it many bloody religious rites and childish social practices.
Wiktionary
- n. A member of a Pre-Columbian Native American people who dominated much of central Mexico between the 10th and 12th centuries AD.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Ethnol.) One of a race which formerly occupied Mexico.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a member of the Nahuatl speaking people of central and southern Mexico
Etymologies
- From Spanish tolteca, from Nahuatl tōltēcah, plural of tōltēcatl ("inhabitant of Tollan"), from Tōllān + -catl. (Wiktionary)
- Spanish tolteca, from Nahuatl toltecatl, artisan, mechanic. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Twenty-six figures dressed in "Toltec" warrior garb dance around the panel to meet in the centre of the western, interior wall.”
“The popular Don Juan books (The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge and A Separate Reality) written by Carlos Castaneda a few decades ago also used the term Toltec to apply to people of spiritual awareness, but Castaneda was careful to say that his term did not apply to the Toltec people in general, again about whom we know almost nothing.”
“Besides, the Toltec were a vital and dynamic people, almost as advanced as the Teotec.”
“< 95 > The savage tribes have the general name of Chichimecas, but by right this term ought to be applied to the sedentary tribes as well; however, the word Toltec stands for these sedentary tribes.”
“1995 I created one of the first Forums on the internet dedicated to Toltec wisdom called The Toltec Nagual.”
“Nahuatl or Aztec, and hence they have given occasion for considerable theorizing in favor of the "Toltec" origin of the Maya civilization, and also of the Nahuatl descent of the princely family of the Tutulxiu.”
The Maya Chronicles Brinton's Library Of Aboriginal American Literature, Number 1
“No wonder that the early missionaries, many of whom, like Landa, had lived in Mexico and had become familiar with the story of Quetzalcoatl and his alleged departure toward the east, identified him with Kukulcan, and that, following the notion of this assumed identity, numerous later writers have framed theories to account for the civilization of ancient Yucatan through colonies of "Toltec" immigrants.”
American Hero-Myths A Study in the Native Religions of the Western Continent
“Toltec" colony, as has been maintained by such able writers on Peruvian antiquities as Leonce Angrand and J.J. von Tschudi? [”
American Hero-Myths A Study in the Native Religions of the Western Continent
“I am deeply gratified that "The Toltec I Ching" has been selected a Silver Winner of the 2010 Nautilus Book Awards.”
The Huffington Post: William Horden: The Yin And Yang Of The Culture War
“The architecture of this dramatic building incorporates features of Mixtec, Toltec, Aztec and Zapotec cultures from the Preclassic period (200-600 A.D.).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘Toltec’.
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Nahuatl
"Spanish náhuatl, from Nahuatl, that which pleases the ear, from nahua-, audible, intelligent, clear."
- etymology from The American Heritage Dictionary
Nahuatl, Zapotec, Aztec, avocado, guacamole, amole, atlatl, axolotl, black sapote, cacao, cacomistle, chayote and 77 more...
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