alcaide

American  

[al-kahy-dee, ahl-kahy-the] / ælˈkaɪ di, ɑlˈkaɪ ðɛ /

Or alcayde

noun

plural

alcaides

1. a commander of a fortress.

2. a jailer; the warden of a prison.

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alcaide British  

/ alˈkaɪðe, ælˈkeɪd /

noun

1. the commander of a fortress or castle

2. the governor of a prison

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Etymology

Origin of alcaide

First recorded in 1495–1505; from Spanish, from Arabic al-qā'id “the leader”

Example Sentences

At Algiers, he said, there lived, overlooking the prison, a great alcaide named Hadji Morato, a very rich man, who had but one child, a daughter of great beauty.

From The Story of Don Quixote by Choate, Florence

He was later a treasury officer at Darien, governor of Cartagena, and alcaide of the fort at Santo Domingo.

From The Book of Buried Treasure Being a True History of the Gold, Jewels, and Plate of Pirates, Galleons, etc., which are sought for to this day by Paine, Ralph Delahaye

The title of alcalde must be carefully distinguished from alcaide, which is derived from the Arabic al-quaid, a general, and means the governor of a fortress.

From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg

At this instant there was great warre betweene this alcaide and another gouernor of the next prouince.

From The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 11 by Hakluyt, Richard

A Spanish Cuba rose—Iberian and yet singularly different—a business of Captain-General and Teniente Rey, of alcalde and alcaide, of Santiago de Cuba and San Crist�bal de la Habana.

From San Crist?bal de la Habana by Hergesheimer, Joseph