adelantado
[ad-l-ahn-tah-doh; Spanish ah-th e-lahn-tah-th aw]
- a governor of a province in Spain or of a Spanish colonial province.
- any of the early explorers, conquerors, or colonizers in Spanish America.
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Origin of adelantado
1835–45, Americanism; < Spanish, noun use of past participle of adelantar to go forward, derivative of adelante in front (a- (< Latin ad- ad-) + delante before, for denante < Late Latin dē in ante)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for adelantado
Historical Examples
Hernando de Soto, the Adelantado of Florida, and that ismystory.
The Trail BookMary Austin
There is no good English equivalent for Soto's title of Adelantado.
The Trail BookMary Austin
He had been in the service of the Adelantado, and was not unrecognized.
It is possible that the Adelantado was dispatched with the letter.
I am Pedro Melendez, adelantado of all this Florida, and of the isles thereof.
The Lily and the TotemWilliam Gilmore Simms