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cacique

 - 3 dictionary results

ca⋅cique

[kuh-seek]
–noun
1. a chief of an Indian clan or tribe in Mexico and the West Indies.
2. (in Spain and Latin America) a political boss on a local level.
3. (in the Philippines) a prominent landowner.
4. any of several black and red or black and yellow orioles of the American tropics that construct long, pendent nests.

Origin:
1545–55; < Sp < Taino (Hispaniola)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ca·cique   (kə-sēk')   
n.  
  1. An Indian chief, especially in the Spanish West Indies and other parts of Latin America during colonial and postcolonial times.

  2. A local political boss in Spain or Latin America.


[American Spanish, from Arawak kassequa, chieftain.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

cacique

any of a dozen tropical American birds belonging to the family Icteridae (order Passeriformes) and resembling the related oropendolas. Caciques are smaller than oropendolas and have a less-powerful bill, which lacks a frontal shield. These striking black-and-yellow or black-and-red birds make hanging nests. A common species is the all-black, yellow-billed cacique (Cacicus, or Amblycercus, holosericeus), about 20 cm (8 inches) long, found in areas from southern Mexico to Bolivia.

Learn more about cacique with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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