conquistador

/kənˈkistədɔɹ/

conquistador means A conqueror, but especially one of the Spanish soldiers that invaded Central and South America otherwise known as the doorways to the new world, in the 16th century and defeated the Incas and Aztecs.

conquistador is pronounced /kənˈkistədɔɹ/.

Why “conquistador” is a great word

A conqueror, specifically one of the Spanish soldiers who invaded and subjugated the Americas in the sixteenth century. From Spanish conquistador, from conquistar ('to conquer'), from Vulgar Latin *conquistare, from Latin conquirere ('to search for, procure'). Borrowed into English in the 19th century. Unlike an 'explorer,' who travels to discover, or a 'colonist,' who settles to inhabit, a conquistador exists for the singular purpose of acquisition by force. He is the glint of steel plate in a jungle clearing, the scent of gunpowder over incense, and the weight of a gold ingot pried from an altar—a figure defined by the brutal transaction where searching becomes seizing, and procurement becomes plunder.

noun

A conqueror, but especially one of the Spanish soldiers that invaded Central and South America otherwise known as the doorways to the new world, in the 16th century and defeated the Incas and Aztecs.

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

conquer 83% match — To defeat in combat; to subjugate. vs conquistador →
adelantado 82% match — A title bestowed by the king on certain nobles in the 15th-17th centuries, who granted them governorship of a province or charged them with conquering a foreign territory vs conquistador →
mestizo 81% match — A person of mixed ancestry, especially one of Spanish and Native American heritage. vs conquistador →
bandolero 80% match — An outlaw or bandit, especially in Spain or Mexico. vs conquistador →
vanquish 80% match — To defeat (someone); to overcome. vs conquistador →
subjugate 80% match — Forced into submission; subjugated. vs conquistador →
buccaneer 80% match — Any of a group of seamen who cruised on their own account on the Spanish Main and in the Pacific in the 17th century, who were similar to pirates but did not prey on ships of their own nation. vs conquistador →
condottiere 80% match — A mercenary military leader from 14th-century Italy and later in other parts of Europe. vs conquistador →