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cabildo

American  
[kah-veel-daw, kuh-bil-doh] / kɑˈvil dɔ, kəˈbɪl doʊ /

noun

Spanish.
  • cabildos
    plural
  1. the chapter house of a cathedral.

  2. a town council, especially in Latin America.

  3. a town hall in colonial Spanish America.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

New Orleans was given a cabildo with direct appeal to the Council of the Indies instead of to the Audiencia of Santo Domingo.

From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Herbert Eugene Bolton

In some parts of Spain and in Spanish America the town council was called the cabildo or chapter, from the Latin capitulum.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" by Various

Thus spoke Don Fray Pedro de Arce; and answer was made to him by the dean, Don Miguel Garcetas, in behalf of the cabildo.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 29 of 55 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of the Catholic Missions, as Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century by Various

The ecclesiastical cabildo repaired to the governor in regard to this case, and were coldly received by him.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898—Volume 39 of 55 Explorations by Early Navigators, Descriptions of the Islands and Their Peoples, Their History and Records of The Catholic Missions, As Related in Contemporaneous Books and Manuscripts, Showing the Political, Economic, Commercial and Religious Conditions of Those Islands from Their Earliest Relations with European Nations to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, Volume XXXIX: 1683-1690 by Emma Helen Blair

There is a cabildo and magistracy, with two alcaldes-in-ordinary, a chief constable, regidors, and a clerk of cabildo; and an accountancy of results, with its accountant and officials.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 36, 1649-1666 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century. by Edward Gaylord Bourne

Many of these early rituals took place within cabildos — Spanish-imposed religious meetings meant to socialize enslaved people into Catholicism.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2025

The vocabulary of the protests speaks to the people: Neighbors are discussing solutions at cabildos, or town hall–style meetings, and on Oct.

From Slate ● Dec. 17, 2019

A large bureaucracy administered the affairs of its church and state, and the only elected bodies were local town councils, or cabildos.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

In each of these a corregidor, or deputy-governor resides, to whose command the civil and military officers of the province are subordinate, and on whom the respective cabildos or municipal magistracies are dependent.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 05 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Robert Kerr

A few villas or towns had their elective cabildos, or town councils, and a modicum of self government.

From The Colonization of North America 1492-1783 by Herbert Eugene Bolton

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