Altepetl

Altépetl combines the Nahuatl words atl (water) and tepetl (mountain), a pairing that evoked the water and land a community needed in order to live. It was the basic political unit of the Nahua world: each altépetl had its own ruler (tlatoani), its own patron god, and its own territory.

Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan — the members of the Triple Alliance — were each an altépetl.