quipu means A recording device, used by the Incas, consisting of intricate knotted cords. It carries an Arena rating of 1529, earned across 38 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, quipu ranks #776 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,434 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,802 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #2,231 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
quipu is pronounced /ˈki.pu/.
Why “quipu” is a great word
QUIPU — [Noun] A mnemonic and recording device of the Incas and other Andean cultures, consisting of a primary cord from which depend intricately knotted and color-coded subsidiary cords. From Spanish quipu, from Quechua khipu ("knot"). First attested in English in 1704. Unlike an "abacus," a tool for direct calculation, or "hieroglyphs," a system of pictorial symbols, the quipu is a three-dimensional, tactile archive encoding data in the spatial arrangement, colors, and complex knot-tying of its cords. It is a census etched in spun wool, a fiscal ledger rendered in the twist of camelid-fiber strands, and a dynastic chronicle held in a bureaucrat's hands—a civilization's memory, suspended by strings and speaking only to the fingers of the initiated.
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish quipu, from Quechua khipu (“knot”).
noun
- A recording device, used by the Incas, consisting of intricate knotted cords.e.g.“Among a cache of 21 quipus recovered from a house, probably that of the chief quipu keeper, seven are clearly related in a three-tier accounting hierarchy.” — 2005 August 16, Nicholas Wade, “Those Ancient Incan Knots? Tax Accounting, Researchers Suggest”, in The New York Times:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- quip 57% match — A smart, sarcastic turn or jest; a taunt; a severe retort or comeback; a gibe. vs quipu →
- kichua 53% match — Dated spelling of Quechua. vs quipu →
- qullqa 52% match — An Incan storehouse or warehouse vs quipu →
- quachtli 51% match — A piece of standardized cloth used as currency in Mesoamerica until shortly after the arrival of Europeans. vs quipu →
- ceque 51% match — Among the ancient Incas, a ceremonial processional line or route. vs quipu →
- quenacho 50% match — A larger, lower-toned version of the quena (traditional flute of the Andes). vs quipu →
- counterquip 49% match — A quip made in response to another quip. vs quipu →
- quillwork 49% match — Decorative textile embellishment made from porcupine quills by certain Native Americans. vs quipu →