Inca

[ ing-kuh ]

noun

1. a member of any of the dominant groups of South American Indian peoples who established an empire in Peru prior to the Spanish conquest.
2. a ruler or member of the royal family in the Incan empire.

Inca

/ ˈɪŋkə /

noun

1. a member of a South American Indian people whose great empire centred on Peru lasted from about 1100 ad to the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s and is famed for its complex culture
2. the ruler or king of this empire or any member of his family
3. the language of the Incas See also Quechua

Derived Forms

• ˈIncan, adjective

Other Words From

• In·ca·ic [ing-, key, -ik, in-], adjective
• Incan noun adjective
• pseudo-Incan adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of Inca¹

1585–95; < Spanish < Quechua inka ruler of the Inca state

Word History and Origins

Origin of Inca¹

C16: from Spanish, from Quechua inka king

Example Sentences

Spanish written accounts described the widespread use of coca leaves during Inca rites of passage.

From Science News

Valdez suspects Ampato mountain was originally called Qampato, a word meaning toad in the Inca language.

From Science News

I thought mostly about llamas, the camelids first domesticated by the Inca in the high-altitude Andean mountains some 5,000 years ago, a calm and gentle beast of burden whose presence delighted our children and eased the weight on our backs.

From Washington Post

On the same train is 19-year-old Renata Flores, an artist who became famous for singing modern songs in her native Quechua, the language of the Inca empire that is still spoken in modern-day Peru.

From Ozy

The animals also provided meat and carried goods over some 25,000 miles of Inca roads.

From No Straight News

How did the Inca get giant blocks of stone up mountains 500 years ago without the use of wheels?

From The Daily Beast

Especially when the leader in question is that Inca of Incas, the president of the United States.

From The Daily Beast

Among the Inca, quinoa was known as “chisaya mama” or “the mother grain,” and was treated with ritual ceremony.

From The Daily Beast

It was the case in Peru, where the Inca was the direct representative on earth of the solar deity.

From Project Gutenberg

The high priest was second in dignity only to the Inca, and he was generally closely related to this ruler.

From Project Gutenberg

Blasphemy against the sun was considered as bad as treason against the Inca, and both were punished with death.

From Project Gutenberg

The registers were always submitted to the perusal of the Inca, and, subsequently, kept in the capital.

From Project Gutenberg

What reasons actuated the Inca we have no means of ascertaining.

From Project Gutenberg