to support a maize plant so that it will grow (see Molina)
Alonso de Molina:
acatia. (pret. oacatix.) hazer caña la mata de mayz, que crece. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 1v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.