Cacique
//kəˈsiːk// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A tribal chief in the Spanish West Indies. historical
"Mexico has loved a strong leader since before Moctezuma. Indigenous tribes were ruled by caciques, or chieftans^([sic]), and in some rural communities caciques are still unchallenged."
- 2 black-and-red or black-and-yellow orioles of the American tropics wordnet
- 3 A local political leader in Latin America, Spain, or the Philippines.
- 4 Any of a number of tropical birds from Central America and South America in the genera Cacicus, Cassiculus, and Amblycercus.
Example
More examples"Mexico has loved a strong leader since before Moctezuma. Indigenous tribes were ruled by caciques, or chieftans^([sic]), and in some rural communities caciques are still unchallenged."
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish cacique, from Taíno *kasike or Lokono kassequa, cazaqah (“chieftain; power”).
Related phrases
More for "cacique"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.