Word.ws English Dictionary

quipu

/ˈki.pu/

quipu noun: a recording device, used by the Incas, consisting of intricate knotted cords.

quipu: a recording device, used by the Incas, consisting of intricate knotted cords
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Noun

quipu (plural quipus)

  1. A recording device, used by the Incas, consisting of intricate knotted cords.
    • 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

Forms of quipu

pluralquipus
alternative formkhipu
alternative formquipo

Origin of quipu

Borrowed from Spanish quipu, from Quechua khipu (“knot”).

Questions about quipu

What does quipu mean?
Quipu means a recording device, used by the Incas, consisting of intricate knotted cords.
What part of speech is quipu?
Quipu is a noun.
How do you pronounce quipu?
Quipu is pronounced /ˈki.pu/.
What is the plural of quipu?
The plural of quipu is quipus.

Words near quipu in the dictionary

  1. quippy
  2. quips
  3. quipsome
  4. quipster
  5. quipsters
  6. quipu
  7. quipucamayoc
  8. quipucamayocs
  9. quipus
  10. quiquahatch
  11. quiquahatches

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: quipu (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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