nahual

English

Alternative forms

• nagual

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)

1. An animal form which a person may take.

   She has a nahual for every day of the week.

2. (Mesoamerican mythology) A person who is able to take an animal form.

   They suspected that the man was a nahual.

Derived terms

• nahualism

 

See also

• narnauk
• skinwalker
• spirit animal
• tonal

Spanish

Alternative forms

• nagual

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl nāhualli (“sorcerer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /naˈwal/ [naˈwal], /naˈɡwal/ [naˈɣ̞wal]

• Audio (Costa Rica):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: na‧hual

Noun

nahual m (plural nahuales)

1. (Central America, Mexico) sorcerer

   Synonyms: brujo, hechicero

2. (Central America, Mexico) healer, witch doctor

   Synonym: curandero

3. (in Mesoamerican mythology) nahual (animal form which a person may take)

   Synonym: tonal

4. (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