caudillo

[kaw-deel-yoh, -dee-oh; Spanish kou-th ee-lyaw, -th ee-yaw]

noun, plural cau·dil·los

[kaw-deel-yohz, -dee-ohz; Spanish kaw-th ee-lyaws, -th ee-yaws] /kɔˈdil yoʊz, -ˈdi oʊz; Spanish kɔˈði lyɔs, -ˈði yɔs/.

(in Spanish-speaking countries) a head of state, especially a military dictator.

Origin of caudillo

1850–55; < Spanish < Late Latin capitellum, equivalent to Latin capit- (stem of caput) head + -ellum diminutive suffix; see -elle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for caudillo

Contemporary Examples of caudillo

Like Assange, Snowden is a tempting piece on the Ecuadoran caudillo's geopolitical game board.
Ecuador Needs U.S. Aid. Will They Risk It All with Snowden?
Mac Margolis
June 26, 2013

Historical Examples of caudillo

Though Urquiza was a caudillo he had no such ambition for supreme power as plagued Rosas.
The South American Republics Part I of II
Thomas C. Dawson

British Dictionary definitions for caudillo

caudillo

noun plural -los (-jəʊz, Spanish -ʎos)

(in Spanish-speaking countries) a military or political leader

Word Origin for caudillo

Spanish, from Late Latin capitellum, diminutive of Latin caput head

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for caudillo

dictator in Spain or Latin America, 1852, from Spanish caudillo, cabdillo "leader, chief," from Late Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput (genitive capitis) "head" (see capitulum). Later in Spain taken by Franco as a title in imitation of German Führer, Italian Duce.