(Nahuatl) Also known as doña Marina. This woman, probably of Maya origin, was the primary translator for Hernan Cortés in his conquest of the Aztec empire. She was also his consort and bore some of the first mestizo children of Spanish America.

The name of the Indian woman who served as a translator for the Spaniards as they slaughtered their way to the Aztecs during the Conquest. Mexicans turn her name into a noun— malinchista—thatâ€(tm)s a synonym for “traitor.” Typical Mexico—blames everything on women.