Quichuan

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Quichuan \Qui"chuan\, a.
     Designating, or pertaining to, a linguistic stock of South
     American Indians, including the majority of the civilized
     tribes of the ancient Peruvian Empire with some wild tribes
     never subjugated by the Incas. Most of these Indians are
     short, but heavy and strong. They are brachycephalic and of


     remarkably low cranial capacity. Nevertheless, they represent
     one of the highest of native American civilizations,
     characterized by agricultural, military, and administrative
     skill rather than by science or literature, although they
     were adept potters, weavers, and goldsmiths, and preserved by
     the aid of the mnemonic quipu a body of legendary lore in
     part written down since the introduction of writing.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]