Titles
Abogado
– attorney
Abuela(o) – grandmother (grandfather)
Acreedor(a) – creditor
Adulta(o) – adult female (adult male)
Adulta(o) de rescate – ransomed adult
Advenediza(o) – literally “immigrant” but in this
instance an Indian gathered to or visiting the mission from a neighboring
ranchería
Agregada(o) – a person who was relocated to the
mission from an outlying ranchería; “recien agregada(o)” – recently
relocated
Agrimensor – land surveyor
Ahijada
– goddaughter
Ahijado
– godson
Alcalde
– mayor; over economic and political affairs of the mission
or town
Alcalde
Mayor – Spanish governor of the province; had no
fixed residence so he could live wherever he could best administer to his
jurisdiction
Alférez
– second lieutenant
Alguacil
– constable; punished petty crime
Ama cría
– foster mother
Amo
- foster father; plural: foster parents
Apoderado
– attorney, agent, proxy
Arriero
– mule packer
Asistente
– assistant
Atenador – guardian
Avenediza(o) – see advenediza(o)
Bachiller
– bachelor (one holding the lowest academic degree; before inginiero and
doctor)
Barretero
– a person who used a crowbar in the mines to scale off and break rock into
manageable sized pieces which could then be carried to the surface
Bolsero
– cashier; treasurer; maker of purses
Boyero
– ox driver
Burrero
– donkey keeper
Buscón – prospector
Caballero – horseman
Cabo
– corporal
Cabrera(o) – goatherd
Campista
– livestock raisor, cowboy, cattleman
Cantor(a) – singer (most likely
choir singer)
Capitán
– captain of either the Pima auxiliaries or presidial soldiers; assumed
responsibility for offences committed during all campaigns against the
hostiles; formed
expeditions and had field authority to punish criminals for any
legal charges, dissension, robbery or disobedience
Capellan
– chaplain
Caporal(a) – foreman
Cargador
– freighter
Carito
– little loved one
Carpintero
– carpenter
Casada(o) –
married woman (married man)
Casique
– headman; chief; a Nahuatl word used throughout
Castigo
– a person being punished
Castrense
– having to do with the military; for example “Capellan
Castrense” - military chaplain
Catecumena(o) – catechumen; one receiving catechism
Cautivo
– captive
Ciega(o) – blind woman (man)
Chiquilla(o) – small child
Chivato
– little goat
Cochera(o) – coach woman (coachman)
Cocinera(o) – cook
Cogido
– joined to (usually an orphan or other child being raised by someone other
than his parents)
Cogidor
– one who captures or gathers someone into a group
Coja(o) – crippled person
Comisario
– commissary
Corcovada(o) – hump-backed
Coyote
– offspring of a mestizo male and Indian female
Criada(o) – a
person raised by someone other than their parents; foster child; a paid servant
Cuadrilla
– a group of armed men sent in pursuit robbers in fields and on the roads by La
Santa Hermandad, a type of justice court for trying
and punishing such highwaymen
Cuadrillero – member of a cuadrilla
Cuate – twin
Cuñada(o) – sister-in-law (brother-in-law)
Cura
– priest
Curtidor
– tanner; leather dresser
De
Pecho – (a child) at (its
mother’s) breast
Difunta(o) – a dead person; the term most often
used is “ya difunto” -- already dead.
Donado
– lay brother
Doncella
– unmarried young lady
Encerradera(o) – cloistered person
Enferma(o) – sick person
Entenada(o) – stepdaughter (stepson)
Esclava(o) – slave
Escopleador
– chisler; stone cutter
Estanquero
– retailer of “géneros estancados,”
or privileged goods under monopoly, such as tobacco, playing cards, and gun
powder.
Ético
– person who studies and/or teaches morality
Explorador
– scout
Exposito
– a baby abandoned on the church or some family's doorstep at birth
Fideicomisario
– trustee; one who holds anything in trust for another
Fiscal – official church secretary; administrative
officer; saw to it that the Indians attended Mass; visited the sick with the mador to assure that no one died without receiving the holy
sacraments and assisted in burying the dead
Flojo
– a lazy person
Forastera(o) – stranger; one who does not live in the
town or area spoken of
Fraile
– frair
Fugitiva(o) – fugitive
Fulano
– so-and-so; what’s his name
Fundidor
– founder
Garzón – adjutant; assistant
Gemela(o) – twin
Gentil
– a non-Christian Indian
Gobernador – governor; like the mayor he was concerned
with economic and political affairs of
the mission; he oversaw labors of the community, assigned jobs and saw to it
that law and order were maintained
Graduado – brevit;
a commission giving a military officer a higher nominal rank that for which he
receives pay
Granadino
– a person from either
Guacinque – carpenter
Hachero
– torch bearer or one who is appointed to make signals from a tower
Harpero
– harpist
Hechicero
– witch; witch doctor
Herrero
– blacksmith
Hija(o) – daughter (son)
Hija(o) de la Iglesia – daughter (son) of
the church – orphan of unknown parents
Hilador
– spinner
Hortelano(a) – gardener
Huérfana(o) – orphan
Huido
– a “run-away”
Infante
– infant; male child under seven years of age
Intérprete
– interpreter; translator
Interventor
– comptroller
Inválido
– retired soldier
Jabonero
– soap maker
Juez
Eclesiastico – ecclesiastic judge
Justicia – an official; any of
the official Indian titles (i.e., alcalde, gobernador, etc.)
Justicia
Mayor – chief justice (Spaniard); responsible for
investigations of major crimes and pronouncing sentences; responsible
to the alcalde mayor
Mador – teacher of religious
doctrine; instructed children of both sexes in the afternoon or morning in the church; also
instructed parents to send their children at the assigned hours for
instruction; on holy days he taught the adults; visited the sick with the
fiscal to assure that no one died without receiving the holy sacraments and
assisted in burying the dead
Madrastro
– stepmother
Madre
– mother
Madrina
– godmother
Maestro
de Escuela – school teacher
Malvivir – malcontent; someone
living badly
Manceba(o) – young person under 40 years of age
Marido
– husband
Mariscal del Campo – field marshall
Mayordomo – superintendent or
foreman, generally a Spaniard or Mestizo
Medio hermana(o) –
step sister (brother)
Mego
– gentile; mild; meek; peaceful
Mercader
– dealer, trader, shop keeper
Mercante
– merchant
Mesteña(o) – keeper of the unbroken horses;
transhumant herder; Indian unassociated with a ranchería; gentile; shy person
Minero
– miner
Misionero
– missionary
Mocetón(a)– robust young person
Mocetoncilla(o) – little robust young person
Molinero
– miller
Mortua(o) – dead person
Moza(o) – unmarried person
Muchachon(a) – a youth who is not yet considered to
be an adult but is of sufficient age not to be called a boy or girl.
Mudo
– mute
Mujer
– wife (literally “woman”)
Nijora – an Indian of an unknown
tribe
Niña(o) – female child (male
child)
Padrastro
– stepfather
Padre
– father
Padre
cría
– foster father
Padres
no conocidos – unknown parents
Padrino
– godfather
Paje – a personal servant of
the priest (also spelled “page” and “paque”)
Panadero – bread baker
Papadero – ?
Parador –
traveler
Parvula(o) – young child, generally an infant
Pastor
– shepherd
Patrón(a) – boss, employer
Peón
– day laborer
Pintor
– painter
Poseedor
– owner or posessor
Pregonero
– one who announces a public sale or event; common cryer
Presa(o) – prisoner
Presbítero
– priest
Puerco
– a brutish, ill-bred man
Puta
– harlot
Rancheador
– a person living at a ranchería, or
village, not in a mission
Recien Bautizado –
recently baptized
Rector
– curate, rector
Regador
– irrigator
Rescatín
– one who purchases (redeems) Indian (Nijora) children taken captive by other
Indian tribes
Resedente – resident
Sabanero – herdsman
Sastre – taylor
Servidor – servant
Sirviente – a personal servant of
a Spaniard
Soldado – soldier
Soltera(o) – unmarried woman (unmarried man)
Suegra(o) – mother-in-law (father-in-law)
Tartamuda(o) – stutterer
Tejedor
– weaver
Temastian – catechist; cared for ecclesiastical
ornaments, cleaned the church, cared
for the altars, and otherwise aided the priest
Teniente
– lieutenant
Topil – peace officer; served
under the governor and mayor; imprisoned those who committed major crimes while the chief
justice conducted the investigation
Tortillera – tortilla maker
Traidor(a) – traitor (traitress)
Tuerta(o) – one eyed person or person blind in one
eye
Vaquerillo
– little cowboy
Vaquero – cowboy
Vazinque
– probably a variation of “guacinque”
Vicario
– vicar
Vieja(o) – old woman (old man)
Viuda(o) – widow (widower)
Yeguera
– keeper of the broodmare herd
Yerna(o) –
daughter-in-law (son-in-law)
Zapatero
– shoemaker