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; < Spanish < Taino (Hispaniola)

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Cacique is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
Collins
World English Dictionary
cacique or cazique (kəˈsiːk, kəˈziːk) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  a Native American chief in a Spanish-speaking region
2.  (esp in Spanish America) a local political boss
3.  any of various tropical American songbirds of the genus Cacicus and related genera: family Icteridae (American orioles)
 
[C16: from Spanish, of Arawak origin; compare Taino cacique chief]
 
cazique or cazique
 
n
 
[C16: from Spanish, of Arawak origin; compare Taino cacique chief]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Encyclopedia Britannica
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.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Their regional chieftaincies, each headed by a leader known as a cacique, crumbled away.
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