Many sources claim that Cotopaxi means shining pile or mountain in an indigenous language, but this is unproven. According to locals who speak Quechua, coto means neck and paxi means moon. This refers to the crater of Cotopaxi that looks like a crescent moon. The mountain was honored as a Sacred Mountain by local Andean people, even before the Inca invasion in the 15th century. It was worshiped as rain sender, which served as the guarantor of the land's fertility, and at the same time its summit was revered as a place where gods lived.