Inca
noun/ˈɪŋkə/
Etymology Borrowed from Spanish inca, from Classical Quechua inka (“emperor”).
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:
- 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:
- Derived terms
- Inca dove, Inca lily, Incan, Peruvian Inca Orchid