xoloitzcuintli
/ˌʃəʊləʊɪtsˈkwɪntli/(also xoloitzcuintle)
noun
The Mexican hairless dog.
- There was much early confusion as to which animal was referred to by Hernández in 1651; as the name of a breed of dog, rare before the mid 20th cent..
Origin
Late 18th century; earliest use found in William Smellie (1740–1795), printer, editor, and author. From Nahuatl xōlōitzcuīntli, apparently from xōlō-, xōlōtl, of uncertain sense and etymology, perhaps ‘page, male servant’ + itzcuīntli particular kind of dog.