patolli

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Nahuatl patōlli.

Noun

patolli (uncountable)

1. A board game, similar to pachisi, played by the Aztecs.
   • 1992, Olive Patricia Dickason, Canada′s First Nations: A History of Founding Peoples from Earliest Times, page 61:

     There is also the resemblance between the Hindu game of pachesi and the Mexica patolli, so close as to be virtually identical.

   • 1994, Edwin C. Krupp, Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations, published 2003, page 294:

     Mesoamericans played a game called patolli, which has been likened to parcheesi. […] Post-Conquest accounts also indicate patolli had religious meaning, and calendrical, numerological, cosmological, and astronomical symbolism determined the rules of play.

   • 2002, Sally E. D. Wilkins, Sports and Games of Medieval Cultures, page 156:

     Patolli is a Mesoamerican game so similar to South Asian pachisi that many anthropologists considered it evidence of a precolonial contact between the peoples of the Old and New Worlds (Figure 5.2).

Translations

board game

• Classical Nahuatl: patōlli
• Spanish: patole m

Anagrams

• Patillo

Catalan

Verb

patolli

1. inflection of patollar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Classical Nahuatl

FWOTD – 29 August 2016

patōlli

Etymology

From patoa (“to play a game of chance”) +‎ -lli.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [paˈtóː.lːi]

Noun

patōlli (inanimate, plural patōlli)

1. (it is) patolli; a board game similar to pachisi involving chance through the throwing of dice.
   • 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca vn vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 144v:

     Iuego de fortuna.  patolli. amapatolli.

     A game of chance.  patolli. amapatolli.

   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 73r. col. 1:

     Iuego de fortuna. patolli. amapatolli.

     A game of chance. patolli. amapatolli.

   • Idem, f. 80r. col. 2.

     Patolli. dados para jugar, o juego de fortuna.

     Patolli. dice used in play, or a game of chance.

2. (it is) a large bean, usually indented on one side, used as a die in this game.
3. (it is) a die; dice.
   • 1555, Alonso de Molina, Aqui comienca vn vocabulario en la lengua castellana y mexicana, f. 66r:

     Dados.  patolli.

     Dice.  patolli.

   • 1571, Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, f. 35v. col. 1:

     Dados. patolli.

     Dice. patolli.

   • Idem, f. 80r. col. 2.

     Patolli. dados para jugar, o juego de fortuna.

     Patolli. dice used in play, or a game of chance.

Derived terms

Terms derived from patōlli

• āmapatōlli
• cuappatōlli
• pāqui in patōlli
• patōlco
• patōlcuachtli
• patōlhuapalli
• patōllahtolli
• patōlōyān

Related terms

• patoāni

References

• Alonso de Molina (1571) Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, Editorial Porrúa, pages 66r, 89r
• Rémi Siméon (1885) Diccionario de la lengua náhuatl o mexicana, Siglo Veintiuno Editores, page 377