conquistador

/koʊnˈkisɾədɔr/

/kənˈkistədɔ/

Other forms: conquistadores; conquistadors

A conquistador is a person who is out to conquer new territory.

A conquistador was the name given to the Fifteenth-to-Seventeenth century Spanish and Portugese soldiers who conquered much of the world, most famously the Central and Southern Americas. Not nice guys, but effective, and the term is still used today to describe certain people — ruthless business types, etc — who are brutally efficient at what they do. The most famous conquistador was the Spanish adventurer, Hernando Cortes, who subdued the mighty Aztec Empire of Mexico. The word comes, not surprisingly, from the Spanish verb conquistar, "to conquer."

Definitions of conquistador

1. noun

   an adventurer (especially one who led the Spanish conquest of Mexico and Peru in the 16th century)
   examples:

   Hernando Cortes

   Spanish conquistador who defeated the Aztecs and conquered Mexico (1485-1547)

   Francisco Pizarro

   Spanish conquistador who conquered the Incas in what is now Peru and founded the city of Lima (1475-1541)

   type of:

   adventurer, explorer

   someone who travels into little known regions (especially for some scientific purpose)