tzolkin

Etymology

A neoterm coined by Western scholars from the Yucatec Maya words tzol (“count”) and k'in (“day”); it is unknown what the classical-era Maya natively called their calendar.

tzolkin means the Mayan calendar consisting of 260 days. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.

Why “tzolkin” is a great word

TZOLKIN — [Noun] The 260-day sacred calendar of the Maya, formed by the interlocking permutation of 13 day-numbers and 20 named days. A modern scholarly term coined from the Yucatec Maya words tzol ("to count, order") and k'in ("day, sun"). Unlike the haab, which tracks the 365-day solar year, or the calendar round, which denotes their 52-year synchronization, the tzolkin is a self-contained, divinatory mechanism for ordering ritual and fate. It is the diviner’s breath over seeds, the destiny-laden name of a newborn, and the ceaseless, meshing gears of a celestial machine—a mathematics of fate spun from the count of days, where time is not a line but an endlessly recited, sacred formula.

noun

The Mayan calendar consisting of 260 days.