name borne by two rulers of Tenochtitlan in ancient Mesoamerica, from Spanish Moctezuma, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) Moteuczoma, said to mean "he who frowns like a lord" or "he who is angry in a noble manner." Montezuma's revenge, "severe intestinal infection" sometimes suffered by non-natives in Mexico, is by 1962, in reference to Montezuma II (1466-1520), Aztec ruler at the time of the Spanish arrival and conquest of Mexico.