cacique

[ kuh-seek ]

/ kəˈsik /

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noun

a chief of an Indian clan or tribe in Mexico and the West Indies.

(in Spain and Latin America) a political boss on a local level.

(in the Philippines) a prominent landowner.

any of several black and red or black and yellow orioles of the American tropics that construct long, pendent nests.

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Origin of cacique

First recorded in 1545–55; from Spanish, from Taíno (Hispaniola)

Words nearby cacique

cachinnation, Cachoeiro do Itapemirim, cachou, cachucha, cacimbo, cacique, caciquism, cack, cackermander, cack-handed, cackle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cacique in a sentence

It is from the perspective of a Mexican cacique on his deathbed.
My Father Sergio Muñoz Bata’s Friendship With Novelist Carlos Fuentes|Lorenza Muñoz|May 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Yet, though ostensibly free, these local bodies are practically in the power of the political wire-puller, or cacique.
Spanish Life in Town and Country|L. Higgin and Eugne E. Street
The cacique has another very beautiful palace, with a large courtyard, paved with handsome flags, in the style of a chess-board.
South American Fights and Fighters|Cyrus Townsend Brady
In later years a cacique was elected annually by the people, and under him officers were appointed for the different villages.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1|Hubert Howe Bancroft

At length they were again taken captive by the cacique or chief of another province.
Hernando Cortez|John S. C. Abbott
Formerly 729 each town or province was ruled by an hereditary cacique, who administered justice with four nobles as counselors.
The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1|Hubert Howe Bancroft

British Dictionary definitions for cacique

cacique

cazique (kəˈziːk)

/ (kəˈsiːk) /

noun

a Native American chief in a Spanish-speaking region

(esp in Spanish America) a local political boss

any of various tropical American songbirds of the genus Cacicus and related genera: family Icteridae (American orioles)

Word Origin for cacique

C16: from Spanish, of Arawak origin; compare Taino cacique chief

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012