| aclla | Female appointed to the service of the state, chosen among the prettiest and most talented girls in her neighborhood. Her job was to serve the visitors at the tambo and to spin and weave for the state. The most talented acllas became Virgins of the Sun. |
| adobe | Building material consisting of clay and binding materials such as straw, sand, or pebbles. |
| apu | Chief, or boss. |
| apusquipay | Commander of an army in the field, usually a close blood relative of the reigning Inca. |
| apusquiprantin | Aide of the apusquipay. |
| aucak | Soldier, or warrior. |
| aucacunakapu | Highest ranking officer in the Inca army, literally “Chief of Soldiers”. |
| aucak camayoc | Inductee, literally a “man fit for war,” 25–50 years of age. |
| aucapussak | Captain. |
| aucata yachachik apu | Second highest ranking officer in the Inca army, literally “Chief in charge of organizing the soldiers,” roughly equivalent to a general. |
| ayllu | Clan or group of lineages that trace their origins to a mythical common ancestor. Under Inca rule, one ayllu consisted of 100 pachacas or lineages. |
| aymará | Second most important language in the Andean region. |
| bamba | Valley. |
| cacique | Chieftain; a term borrowed by the Spanish from the Carib language. |
| camayoc | Keeper, guardian. |
| cancha | Single family settlement or compound surrounded by a protective wall. |
| capac | Paramount chief, king. |
| capac ñan | Main road. |
| chasqui | Messenger, runner. |
| chuncacamayoc | One of the two lowest ranking officers in the Inca army; he may have led about 100 men. |
| colca/collca/q’olca | State storehouse. |
| Coricancha | Temple of the Sun. |
| Coya | Queen consort, the official wife of the Inca, whose sons were considered the best candidates to succeed the reigning Inca. |
| cuclla | Chasqui hut. |
| curaca | Chieftain, leader of the ayllu. |
| hanan | “Upper,” name given to one of the moieties of Cuzco. |
| Hinantin aucata suyuchak apu | Literally “Chief who assigns troops to their proper place,” equivalent to a European sergeant major of the period. |
| huaca | Sacred object, often an unusually shaped stone or meteorite worshipped by the Andean Indians. |
| huaminca | Regiment of veterans from the Cuzco area. |
| huno | Administrative unit consisting of 10 warankas. |
| hurin | “Lower,” name given to one of the moieties of Cuzco. |
| ichu | Andean grass used in making thatch roofs, ropes and cordage, and the construction of adobe walls. |
| Inca | Title given to the rulers of Tawantinsuyu. |
| Inti | Name of the Sun God of the Incas. |
| lineage | Group of families descended from one known common ancestor. |
| marca | Territory of an ayllu or clan. |
| mit’a | Ta x paid in the form of labor. |
| mitimac | A taxpayer; often a person transplanted from their territory of origin into an area that needed to be pacified, or in punishment for rebelling against Inca rule (a penal mitimac). |
| moiety | Endogamous group consisting of half of the lineages and/or clans of a tribe or nation. |
| ñan | Road. |
| orejón (pl. orejones) | Term used by the Spanish to refer to a nobleman from Cuzco. It means “big ear(s),” which alludes to the custom of wearing large golden earplugs in their earlobes. |
| pachaca | Lineage or group of several nuclear families with a known common ancestor. |
| pampa | Field, grassland, pasture. |
| panaca | The pachaca of a deceased Inca and/or his household. |
| pihcachuncacamayoc | Leader of five ayllus in the Inca army; he may have led a unit of 500 men. |
| pihcapachaca | Inca administrative unit consisting of five ayllus or 500 pachacas. |
| pirca | Construction material consisting of a mixture of pebbles and fieldstones held together with a clay-based mortar. |
| puka | Red. |
| pukara | Fort or stronghold with defensive terraces. |
| purej | Leader of a lineage. |
| quechua | The official language of the Inca Empire. |
| quichua | A variant of the Quechua language. |
| quipu | A type of abacus made of knotted strings of different colors and thicknesses on which the Incas kept all the records of their empire, including historical records. |
| quipucamayoc | Keeper of the quipu: a type of accountant and court historian. |
| runa | The people ruled by the Inca. |
| Sapa Inca | The “Only Inca”. |
| saya | Territorial sector or administrative unit consisting of several marcas. |
| sericac | Quartermaster in the Inca army. |
| suyu | Literally “region,” the largest territorial administrative unit of the Inca empire. |
| sinchi | Chief or leader, higher than capac. |
| tambo | Rest house or inn belonging to the state where the Inca and/or his armies could rest and resupply on their marches. |
| Tawantinsuyu | Quechua name of the Inca Empire, meaning “Four regions of the world.” |
| topo | Plot of land allotted to a nuclear family. |
| ushnu | Altar or altar platform, almost always found at the center of an Inca pukara. |
| waranka | Inca administrative unit consisting of two pihcapachacas or 1,000 pachacas. |
| yanakuna/yanacona | Slave assigned to the household of the Inca or his allies and protégés. They were often prisoners of war that were spared from death because of some outstanding quality. |