tecol

Spanish

Etymology

From Classical Nahuatl tletl (“fire”) + ocuilin (“worm”), for its reddish color.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teˈkol/ [t̪eˈkol]
• Rhymes: -ol
• Syllabification: te‧col

Noun

tecol m (plural tecoles)

1. (Mexico) the edible larva of the moth Hypopta agavis, used in traditional Mexican cuisine

   Synonym: (Mexico) chinicuil

References

• Carlos Montemayor et al. (2009) Diccionario del náhuatl en el español de México, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, page 120

Further reading

• “tecol”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28