Cuilol (TV4r)

This black-line drawing of the simplex glyph for the personal name Cuilol ("A Painting" or "Painter” attested here as a man’s name) shows two, dotted concentric circles and, around the perimeter, six curling lines and more dots. The verb, icuiloa (or ihcuiloa, with the glottal stop), means to write or paint, and this name ends in -lol, which has a nod to the nominal suffix or absolutive (-lli). Cuilol can therefore call to mind cuilolli, icuilolli, and tlacuilolli (a piece of writing, a painting, a design carved in stone, etc.). The initial i- of icuiloa has also dropped away, but this is not unusual. The -cuil- root refers to something curved or curvy, and this glyph certainly has that. When not referring to painting or writing, the cuil root can refer to other design expressions, such as embroidery, stone sculpture, and even the cultivation of the earth.