A member of the indigenous Nahuatl-speaking people who built a powerful empire in central Mexico before Spanish conquest in the 1500s; or relating to their civilization.
From Nahuatl 'Aztecah' meaning 'people from Aztlan.' The Aztecs called themselves 'Mexica,' but Spanish conquistadors and European historians adopted 'Aztec' from the mythological place of origin, Aztlan.
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