conquistador

[kon-kwis-tuh-dawr, kong-, kawng-kees-tah-thawr]

noun

plural

conquistadors ,

plural

conquistadores .

1. one of the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century.

conquistador

/ kɒnˈkwɪstəˌdɔː, konkistaˈðor /

noun

1. an adventurer or conqueror, esp one of the Spanish conquerors of the New World in the 16th century

Word History and Origins

Origin of conquistador¹

1540–50; < Spanish equivalent to conquist ( ar ) to conquer ( conquest ) + -ador -ator

Word History and Origins

Origin of conquistador¹

C19: from Spanish, from conquistar to conquer; see _conquest

Example Sentences

The FBI has returned a 500-year-old stolen document signed by Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés to Mexico.

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That has been true since the vision of a land of gold — El Dorado — drew the Spanish conquistadors to these shores.

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For years, Indigenous activists and others staged protests at the statue, labeling Columbus and other conquistadores as perpetrators of genocide.

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López Obrador, an avid amateur historian, said he has been working on his latest book, a study of Mexico before the 16th century arrival of Spanish conquistadores.

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When the Spanish conquistadors arrived they were suspicious at first, and the Catholic Church declared coca to be the work of the devil.

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