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

Sporting a conquistador moustache and thighs as thick as a gaucho's steak, the culture shock was severe when the Argentina wing arrived at Harlequins.

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Though the conquistadors enjoyed superior technology, including steel weapons and gunpowder, European diseases such as smallpox and measles proved more decisive, taking untold millions of indigenous lives.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Landing in Peru in 1531, during the Inca Civil War, the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro found the Inca Road an ideal conduit for seizing the empire and draining it of its treasure.

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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.

Read more on Los Angeles Times