Standard Lemma guide

caudillo

name · noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /kɔˈdiː(j)oʊ/
  • /kaʊˈdiː(j)oʊ/
  • CMU ARPABET: K AO2 D IH1 L OW0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

name

Meaning 1

A surname.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A leader.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A military dictator, especially one ruling in Spain, Portugal or Latin America.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Spanish caudillo, from Late Latin capitellum, based on Latin caput, capitis (“head”). Doublet of caddie, cadel, cadet, capital, and capitellum. More possible, from kaput and ili (iri, ür, uri: town), from Basque language. In Iberian ili is high point, high city.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 考迪羅 /考迪罗 (kǎodíluó) — military dictator in South America
  • Finnish: sotilasdiktaattori — military dictator in South America
  • French: caudillo — military dictator in South America
  • Indonesian: caudillo — military dictator in South America
  • Japanese: 総統 (sōtō) — military dictator in South America
  • Portuguese: caudilho — military dictator in South America
  • Russian: кауди́льо (kaudílʹo) — military dictator in South America
  • Spanish: caudillo — military dictator in South America
  • Swedish: caudillo — military dictator in South America