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ax·o·lotl

(ăksə-lŏt′l)

Any of several salamanders of the genus Ambystoma of Mexico and the western United States that do not go through metamorphosis, becoming sexually mature while in an aquatic larval form with external gills.

[Nahuatl āxōlōtl, ātl, ā-, water (akin to Hopi paahu, paa-, water, from Proto-Uto-Aztecan pa') + xōlōtl, twin, the dog-headed god Xolotl (the twin of Quetzalcoatl), monstrous birth, monster, dwarf, servant (akin to Paiute sinawava, coyote, the Paiute coyote god, from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *sra'aw, one who is a double, from Proto-Uto-Aztecan *sⁿ-, to be double, look like).]

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axolotl

Mexican axolotl

Ambystoma mexicanum

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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