Standard Lemma guide

Inca

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈɪŋkə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • homophone: inker (non-rhotic)
  • rhymes with -ɪŋkə
  • CMU ARPABET: IH1 NG K AH0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A member of the group of Quechuan peoples of highland Peru who established an empire from northern Ecuador to central Chile before the Spanish conquest.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any of several species of hummingbirds in the genus Coeligena

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the small group of Quechua living in the Cuzco Valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors in order to create an empire that lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Inka

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: community

4

noun

Meaning 4

a member of the Quechuan people living in the Cuzco valley in Peru

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Inka, Incan

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Quechua, Kechua

5

noun

Meaning 5

a ruler of the Incas (or a member of his family)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ruler, swayer

Narrower terms: Huayna Capac

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish inca, from Classical Quechua inka (“emperor”).

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: inca — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Chinese Mandarin: 印加 (Yìnjiā) — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Czech: Inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Danish: inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Esperanto: Inkao — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Esperanto: Inkaino — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Finnish: inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • French: Inca — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • German: Inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Icelandic: Inki — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Irish: Inceach — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Japanese: インカ (Inka) — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Korean: 잉카 (Ingka) — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Korean: 잉카인 (Ingkain) — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Latin: Inca — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Marathi: इन्का (inkā) — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Norwegian Bokmål: inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Polish: Inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Portuguese: inca — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Russian: и́нка (ínka) — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Serbo-Croatian: Инка — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Serbo-Croatian: Inka — member of the group of Quechuan peoples
  • Spanish: inca — member of the group of Quechuan peoples