presidio

American  

[pri-sid-ee-oh, pre-see-thyaw] / prɪˈsɪd iˌoʊ, prɛˈsi ðjɔ /

noun

• presidios
  plural

1. a garrisoned fort; military post.

2. a Spanish penal settlement.

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presidio British  

/ preˈsiðjo, prɪˈsɪdɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. a military post or establishment, esp in countries under Spanish control

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• presidial
  adjective
• presidiary
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• presidios
  plural

Etymology

Origin of presidio

1755–65, < Spanish < Latin praesidium guard, garrison, post, literally, defense, protection. See presidium

Explanation

A presidio is a Spanish military fort. Presidios in the western U.S. were built by Spanish colonizers to protect territory they had claimed. Many North American presidios were specifically built to protect Spanish missions, areas claimed by the king of Spain where missionaries constructed churches in order to convert native inhabitants to Christianity. These presidios, built between the 16th and 18th centuries, functioned as fortresses against raids by native people, rival colonists, and pirates. In Spanish, presidio means "fort or settlement," from a root meaning "to protect."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

presidio presidios

They’d soon start building their presidio fort a few miles away, the twin foundations of Spain’s God and empire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

Led by a military commander and the Franciscan missionary Fray Junipero Serra, a combined expedition of soldiers and friars reached San Diego in 1769 and built the first mission and fort, or presidio.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 18, 2018

The presidio had yielded to the glass office towers of downtown.

From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2012

Erection of the Forts.—The presidio was founded in 1635, by a force under Don Juan de Chaves.

From A History of the Philippines by David P. Barrows

Treaty with the Sultan of Jolo.—In spite of the cowardly policy of the successors of Bustamante, the presidio of Zamboanga was not abandoned.

From A History of the Philippines by David P. Barrows

The database has informed dozens of articles and books on early California and has allowed thousands of people to trace their own ancestry back to 18th century California pueblos, presidios and Native villages.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2025

Missions, presidios, and pueblos were small polygons of order in the great unruly geometry of Alta California, with wide stretches between them largely ungoverned by the Spanish.

From Slate ● Feb. 9, 2015

The Jesuits, fearful of interference in their work, as a rule opposed Spanish settlements, presidios, and the development of industries in the Peninsula.

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

To defend the frontier, in 1685 three new presidios were established at Pasage, El Gallo, and Conchos, and two years later one was erected at Monclova.

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

Thus the garrisons at Terrenate and the other presidios lack men, although the visitor thinks it all too much.

From The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 — Volume 24 of 55 1630-34 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 James Alexander Robertson

Related Words

• barricade
• citadel
• fortress
• reinforcement