GLOSSARY

A

ACTAS. Acts or proceedings.

AGUARDIENTE. Liquor made from sugar cane.

ALBAÑIL. Bricklayer or stone mason.

ACHAQUE. Physical infirmity, especially habitual illness associated with old age.

ALCALDE ORDINARIO. Annually elected judge of municipal council.

ALCABALA. Sales tax.

ALFÉREZ MAYOR. Senior regidor ; municipal standard-bearer.

ALHORRA. Crop blight.

ALMAJORIFAZGO. Tax on imports and exports.

ALMUD. Unit of measure; one-twelfth of a fanega .

ALTERNATIVA. System of loading ships on basis of their arrival at port. First arrival must load and depart before next could receive cargo.

ARBOLEDA. Grove of cacao trees.

ÁRBOLES DE LA TIERRA. Indigenous cacao trees.

ARROBA. Unit of measure; about 11.5 kilograms or 25 pounds.

ASIENTISTA. Holder of asiento ; slave factor.

ASIENTO. A contract. The contract to supply slaves to the colony.

AUDIENCIA. The court or governing body of a region.

B

BACHILLER. Lowest academic degree, below master and doctor.

BAHAREQUE. Stick-and-mud building material.

BALANDRA. Small boat with a single mast.

BARLOVENTO. Windward.

C

CABALGADA. Armed expedition to capture slaves or booty.

CABILDO. Municipal council

CABO. Corporal; subordinate to teniente de justicia mayor .

CACIQUE. Indian chief.

CANARIO. Canary Islander.

CANASTILLA. Small shop built in wall of central plaza.

CANOA. Canoe or trough.

CAPITÁN. Head of a company, commander of a sailing vessel.

CARAQUEÑO. Person from Caracas.

CARGA. A load; a fanega and a half of dried cacao beans.

CARNICERÍA. Slaughterhouse.

CARRERA DE Veracruz. Cacao trade between Caracas and Mexico.

CASTELLANO. Governor's lieutenant in charge of royal fort at La Guaira.

CÉDULA. Royal order or instruction.

CIMARRÓN. Fugitive or runaway slave.

COGOLLO. Building material made of sugar cane stalks.

COMPADRAZGO. Relationship through godparents.

COMPADRE. Godparent.

COMPOSICIÓN DE TIERRAS. Legalization of land titles by payment of a fee.

CONCUÑADOS. Men who are brothers-in-law because they are married to sisters.

CONTRABANDISTA. Smuggler.

CORREGIDOR DE INDIOS. Official in charge of an Indian district.

COSECHERO. Cacao planter.

CRIOLLO. Individual or item of American or colonial origin.

CUADRA. Portion of street from one corner to the next; the houses on both sides of that portion of the street.

CURANDERA. Healer, herbalist.

D

DIEZMOS. Any tax of 10 percent; the church tithe.

E

ENCOMENDERO. The holder or an encomienda .

ENCOMIENDA. Royal grant of Indians for labor or tribute.

ESCRIBANO. Public notary.

ESCRIBANÍA. Office of notary.

ESTANCIA. In Caracas context, a wheat farm.

EJIDO. Land held communally by township.

F

FANEGA. A dry measure; in Caracas context 1.5 bushels.

FANEGADA DE SEMBRADURA. Area planted with one fanega of seed.

FLOTA. Fleet; Spain's transatlantic convoy system.

FORASTERO. Outsider, nonresident.

FORTALEZA. Fort.

FRAZADA MESTIZA. Woolen blanket made in Mexico.

G

GAMELOTE. Leaf of an aquatic plant; used for roofing material.

GOLETA. Small, double-masted ship.

GRANDES CACAOS. Elite cacao planters.

H

HACENDADO. Owner of a hacienda.

HACIENDA DE CACAO. Cacao estate.

HATO. A cattle ranch.

HIDALGUÍA. Quality of nobility.

HIPOTECA. Mortgage.

I

ISLEÑO. Canary Islander.

J

JUEZ DE COMISOS. Official responsible for contraband goods.

JUNTA GENERAL. Open or public town meeting; cabildo abierto .

L

LADINO. A Spanish-speaking, Hispanicized individual.

LABRADOR. Spanish farmer.

LEGAJO. Bundle of documents.

LEGUA. League; in Caracas context, a distance of about 5.7 kilometers.

LETRADO. Lawyer; holder of a law degree.

LIENZO. Common cotton cloth.

M

MAESTRE DE CAMPO. Superior militia officer.

MAJORDOMO. Estate overseer or manager.

MANDADOR. Leader or driver of a slave gang.

MANTUANO. Member of elite Caracas family.

MATALOTAJE. Expenses paid to muleteers.

MAYORAZGO. An entailed property.

MERCADER. Large-scale merchant.

MESTIZAJE. Miscegenation.

MOLINO. Mill; in Caracas context, water-powered mill to grind wheat to flour.

MORENO LIBRE. Free person of color.

N

NEGRO. Black; person of African ancestry.

O

OBRA PÍA. Pious donation.

OIDOR.Audiencia judge.

P

PADRÓN. A census or listing of individuals or property.

PAJA. Dried grass, straw.

PAQUETES. Small shops built in wall of central plaza.

PARDO. Person of mixed African and Hispanic descent

PESO. Monetary unit; 8 reales .

PROTOCOLOS. Notary records.

PULPERÍA. General retail store.

R

RANCHOS. Small, wooden, tent-covered retail stalls in central plaza.

REAL. Monetary unit; the peso was divided into eight silver reales .

REAL HACIENDA. Royal treasury.

REGIDOR. Council member of a cabildo .

RELACIONES GEOGRÁFICAS. Geographical surveys.

RENTA. Income.

REPARTIMENTO POR PADRÓN. System, based on number of cacao trees owned, of determining amount of cacao a hacendado could ship in tercio buque .

S

SERVICIO PERSONAL. Primitive encomienda; labor provided by Indians without official assignment or contract directly to encomendero .

T

TIERRA ADENTRO. The interior.

TENIENTE; TENIENTE DE JUSTICIA MAYOR. Governor's lieutenant in rural district; justice of the peace.

TERCIO BUQUE. The third part of a ship's cargo hold.

TRAPICHE. Small sugar estate and mill.

TUTELA. Legal custodianship of minor children.

V

VARA. Distance equivalent to .83 meter.

VECINO. Full citizen or resident of a town; householder.

VELLÓN. Copper money.

VISITADOR. Inspector.

VIZCAÍNO. A person from the province of Vizcaya, a Vizcayan; in eighteenth-century Caracas idiom any person of Basque origin.

VIUDA. Widow.

Z

ZAMBO. A person of African and Indian ancestry.