Macehualtin

Macehualli ( Nahuatl macehualli, plural: macehualtin ) was speaking with the Aztecs and their neighbors Nahuatl term for the free farmers, who formed the bulk of the population. The etymology of the name is obscure, a connection with the term ma'cēhualli, merit is excluded because of the different phonetics.

The macehualtin had the right to use a piece of land. They were drafted into military service, and could be merit in war nobles. Towards the end of the Aztecs time there lived a large part of the macehualtin in Tenochtitlán not from agriculture but from a craft or retail.

Nowadays, the term is also used as ethnonym for the Nahua or by most groups of Nahua as a proper name. It is pronounced and written in different variants, such as Maseuali, Maseualli, Maswoal, Mösiehuali, Spanish Macehual, majority Macehuales. The Nahua word is also in other indigenous languages ​​passed in Mexico, where it is also used as a self-designation of the rural population, such as in Mayathan: Máasewalo'ob or Macehualoob (Mayan peasants of Yucatán ).