Meanings
plural nahuals · alternative nagual
- human sciencesAn animal form which a person may take.
She has a nahual for every day of the week.
1 more example
¿Quién quería tener un perro así? ... ¿Doble animal, nahual, de quién?
Who would want a dog like that? ... Double animal, nagual—whose?
2021, Pedro Mairal, chapter 6, in The Woman from Uruguay, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 73 - Mesoamerican mythologyhuman sciencesA person who is able to take an animal form.
They suspected that the man was a nahual.
Origin
- Classical Nahuatlnāhualli“sorcerer, spirit, animal form a person may take”
- Spanishnahual
- Englishnahual
Borrowed from Spanish nahual, from Classical Nahuatl nāhualli (“sorcerer, spirit, animal form a person may take”).
More words from Spanish, Classical Nahuatl
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
nahual. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nahual
“nahual.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nahual. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nahual,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nahual.
Source: nahual on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.