Etymology: Mexican Spanish, from Nahuatl mecatl cord, rope
2. : an old unit of land area formerly used in the Yucatan region equal to about 400 square meters or 1/10 acre
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/meuh kah"tee/, n.
Southwestern U.S. a rope made of horsehair or sometimes maguey.
[1840-50; < MexSp < Nahuatl mecatl cord, rope]
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‖ mecate(meɪˈkɑːteɪ)
[Aztec mecatl ‘corde, fouet, discipline’ (Siméon Dict. Nahuatl).]
1. A rope made of the fibre or hair of the maguey.
in Bartlett Dict. Amer. in Webster Suppl.; and in recent Dicts.
2. ‘A Mexican square measure, equal to about one-tenth of an acre’ (Cent. Dict. 1890).
Useful english dictionary. 2012.