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# quipu

noun (a quipu, quipus)

«quipu» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

(history) A set of knotted coloured strings used by the Inca people of South America to record numbers and information, such as how many people, animals or goods there were. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/#m1)

### In the lessons

In history and maths lessons about the Incas, the quipu shows that a writing-free civilisation could keep records: the type and position of knots stand for units, tens, hundreds (a base-10 system), and the colours for different things. Officials called quipucamayocs read them. Phrases: «Inca quipu», «knotted strings», «record numbers».

### Examples

- The Incas used a quipu to count llamas. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/#x1)
- Each knot on the quipu stood for a number. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/#x2)
- A knot near the end of the string showed units; higher up meant tens and hundreds. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/#x3)
- We made our own quipu from coloured wool. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/#x4)
- Experts are still trying to work out if quipus recorded words too. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/#x5)
- The quipu helped officials keep track of taxes. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/#x6)

### Note

Also spelled «khipu». Plural «quipus». Pronounced KEE-poo. Maths: the quipu uses place value in base 10, like our numbers, with an empty space for zero. Not an English word in origin — it comes from Quechua, the Inca language.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «quipu» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quipu/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«quipu» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/quipu.html) on Mova free.