aj holpop - "he who is at the head of the mat" or government

  • Fash 1991, 131

ajaw - lord

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 37

ak'ab - darkness / night, may relate to the Underworld

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 145

ak'bal-k'in - day and night / darkness and light or other paired opposites

  • Schele 1987, 200; Stone and Zender 2011, 145

altar - Mayanist term for table-like monument - purposes may include serving as a throne or a space for offerings, god effigies, or ritual actions

  • Herring 2005, 208-209

bak'tun - roughly 400 years or 144,000 days, first number in Maya Long Count, goes to 19

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12-13

butz' - smoke

  • Stuart 1986, 113

cauac (kawak) - divination related day name - lightning, rainstorm, thunderstorm. May also refer to a now out of date term for a Witz zoomorph

  • Stross 1989, 2; Cauac Monster

chan - sky

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 25

ch'am-K'awiil - literally K'awiil taking

  • refers to a ritual in which a king either accedes the throne or is otherwise granted greater authority

Ch'orti' - Modern Maya people living in / descended from the Copan region

  • Fasquelle 2004, 102

Haab - 365 day vague year comprised of 18 months of 20 numbered days with five extra days - often used together with Tzolk'in calendar

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12

hotun - 5 year

  • Fash 2004, 251

kaloomte' - war title, Chaak holding sacrificial axe

  • Looper 2003, 84

k'atun - roughly 20 years or 7200 days, second number in the Maya Long Count, goes to 19

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12-13

k'exol - children were considered to be the replacements or regenerations of their ancestors, as reflected in this term

  • Fash 2011, 43

k'in - day, fifth number in the Maya Long Count, goes to 19

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12

k'inich - "great sun", referring to the Sun God

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 153

k'uk' - Quetzal

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 25

lahuntun - 10 year period

  • Fash 2011, 55-56

Long Count - calendar system for long expanses of time, written #.#.#.#.# (i.e. 9.0.0.0.0), composed of bak'tuns (400 years), k'atuns (20 years), tuns (360 day years), winals (20 days), and k'ins (days). Often followed by Tzolk'in, Haab, and/or Lord of the Night

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12

Lord of the Night - 9 day cycle of patron gods, often found in text after Long Count and Tzolk'in date

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 13

mo' - macaw

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 25

ochk'in kaloomte' - title for highest Maya kings - used by early Quirigua to refer to the Copan Kings

  • Martin and Grube 2008

tun - year or 360 days, third number in the Maya Long Count, goes to 19

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12-13

tutook' tupakal - with his flint, with his shield (used in death account for Waxaklajuun Ubaah K'awiil)

  • Looper 2003, 77

tuun - stone

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 169

tz'ak - succession glyph

  • Friedel, Schele, and Parker 1993, 416

tz'ap - erection of stelae

  • Fash 2011, 50-51

Tzolk'in - 260 day calendar with 20 day names and 13 numbers

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12

Uxwitik - Three Witik / ancient name for Copan

  • Stuart 2004, 238

Uxwitza' - Three Hill Water, or name for Caracol

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 87

waxaklajuun ubaah kaan - Teotihuacan war serpent

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 213

way(ob) - spirit-companion. The jaguar was the typical spirit-companion for the kings

  • Fash, Fash, and Davis Salazar 2004, 70

winal / uinal - period of 20 days, fourth number in the Maya Long Count, goes to 18

  • Martin and Grube 2008, 12-13

witz - mountain, Sacred Mountain and entrance to Underworld

  • Grube and Schele 1987 157; Fasquelle 2004, 109

yax - blue-green

  • Stone and Zender 2011, 25

yitah - siblinghood

  • Grube 1990