inca

plural incas

1. Any of several species of hummingbirds in the genus Coeligena

plural Incas

1. A member of the group of Quechuan peoples of highland Peru who established an empire from northern Ecuador to central Chile before the Spanish conquest.

   To honor the spirits that take form as mountains, the Inca stoneworkers carved rock outcrops to replicate their shapes.

   2007 June 24, Arthur Lubow, “The Possessed”, in The New York Times

   1 more example

   Archaeologists say the Incas, brought down by the Spanish conquest, used khipus – strands of woolen cords made from the hair of animals like llamas or alpacas – as an alternative to writing.

   2010 August 16, Simon Romero, “High in the Andes, Keeping an Incan Mystery Alive”, in The New York Times