tzintli (Mdz24v)
This element for buttocks (tzintli)] has been carved from the compound sign for the place name, Tecpatzinco. The glyph shows half of a man's body, horizontal, in profile, facing toward the viewer's right. He wears a loincloth, because we see the white belt of the garment. His skin tone is a terracotta.
Stephanie Wood
As with all—or at least the vast majority—of examples of this glyph, the meaning "buttocks" has nothing to do with the meaning of the glyphs, although it may have a metaphorical value of "lower." When modifying a place name, as Frances Karttunen suggests, the meaning of "tzin" is new, little, or lower. It can also refer to something revered, for instance, when combined with something having the element "teo" (from teotl, divine force).
Stephanie Wood
c. 1541, but by 1553 at the latest
butts, buttocks, rear end, little, lower, bottom, nalgas, trasero
tzin(tli), buttocks, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzintli
-tzin, new, little, lower, or reverential, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/tzin
Codex Mendoza, folio 24 verso, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 59 of 188.
The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, hold the original manuscript, the MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1. This image is published here under the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0).
