encomienda

American  

[en-koh-mee-en-duh, -kom-ee-, eng-kaw-myen-dah] / ɛnˌkoʊ miˈɛn də, -ˌkɒm i-, ˌɛŋ kɔˈmyɛn dɑ /

noun

encomiendas plural

1. the system, instituted in 1503, under which a Spanish soldier or colonist was granted a tract of land or a village together with its Indian inhabitants.

2. the land or village together with its inhabitants.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• encomiendas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of encomienda

1800–10; < Spanish: charge, commission, recommendation. See en- ¹, commend

Example Sentences

The encomienda was a system of entrusting valuable territories and peoples to those who had proven to the crown that they were worthy of that trust.

From Textbooks • Dec. 14, 2022

Cantinflas trabaja para la policía, y se le encomienda la difícil misión de encontrar un diamante que ha sido robado.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2020

He lobbied for new legislation, eventually known as the New Laws, which would eliminate slavery and the encomienda system.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

In 1515, Las Casas released his enslaved natives, gave up his encomienda, and began to advocate for humane treatment of native peoples.

From Textbooks • Dec. 30, 2014

The encomienda of Vitis, with about seven thousand men.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 — Volume 05 of 55 1582-1583 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 Beginning of the Nineteenth Century by Blair, Emma Helen