1. knotted cords used by the ancient Incas for recording information and keeping accounts
Usage: historical; plural form

Examples

• The Inca administrators used quipus to record tribute payments from different provinces.
• Archaeologists discovered several well-preserved quipus in the ruins of Machu Picchu.
• Each color and knot pattern in the quipus represented different types of information.
• Scholars are still working to decode the complex system of quipus used by the Inca Empire.
• The museum’s collection includes quipus that are over 500 years old.
• Without a written language, the Incas relied on quipus for administrative record-keeping.