Quetzalecatl (MH609r)
This black-line drawing of the compound glyph for the personal name Quetzalecatl ("Quetzal Feather-Air" or "Quetzal Feather-Wind") is attested here as a man's name. It shows what appears to be the head of a bird with a huge beak and a protruding tongue. It is in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. The "beak" is about three times the width of the head. The animal's eye is open. On the top of its head, emerging stright upward, are what must be three quetzal feathers.
Stephanie Wood
The "ecatl" in this name suggests the divine force of the wind, Ehecatl. As is often the case, however, the reduplication of the "e" is not shown in the gloss.
Stephanie Wood
andres g~çalecatl
Andrés Quetzalecatl (or Andrés Quetzalehecatl?)
Stephanie Wood
1560
Jeff Haskett-Wood
feathers, quetzales, wind, air, breath, viento, aire, aliento, nombres de hombres
![](https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/QuetzalecatlMH609rCmpndPerNamMale.png?itok=xCIMntjL)
quetzal(li), quetzal feather, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/quetzalli
eca(tl), breath, air, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ecatl
eheca(tl), wind, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/ehecatl
Pluma de Quetzal-Aire o Pluma de fpartsQuetzal-Viento
Stephanie Wood
Matrícula de Huexotzinco, folio 609r, World Digital Library, https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_15282/?sp=300st=image.
This manuscript is hosted by the Library of Congress and the World Digital Library; used here with the Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SAq 3.0).
![](https://aztecglyphs.wired-humanities.org/sites/default/files/QuetzalecatlMH609rContext.png)