Quipus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Knotted cords used by ancient Andean cultures to keep records or convey information
2. A system of knotted strings employed historically by Andean civilizations for accounting and communication
3. An arrangement of colored, knotted threads utilized in pre-Columbian Andean societies to record data and messages

Etymology: "Quipus" is the plural of "quipu", a word that English borrowed from Spanish, which in turn took it from Quechua, the language of the Inca Empire. In Quechua, "khipu" means "knot", a fitting name for a device that recorded information by tying cords. The Inca and their predecessors in the Andes used these knotted strings, with knots tied at various intervals and in different forms along coloured cords, to keep numerical and possibly other records. The knots themselves carried the information. Their position along a cord, their type, and the colour and spin of the strings all mattered, so a single structure could hold a large amount of data without any written script. Spanish colonists encountered the devices in the sixteenth century, and the Spanish term passed into English from there.