A conquistador was a Spanish soldier and adventurer who took land in the Americas for Spain — above all Mexico and Peru. The word is simply Spanish for “conqueror,” but in English it names that historical group, not every soldier in every war. They came for gold, land, and fame; they brought horses, guns, and disease, and they pulled down the Aztec and Inca worlds. Though actually, some short definitions say “the 18th century”; the famous campaigns were in the 1500s, not the 1700s. The tidy school picture of “brave explorers” also leaves out how brutal the taking was, and how many local people were killed or forced to work. People sometimes stretch the word, half-joking, for anyone who charges in and takes over a company or a market, but the serious use stays with those Spanish campaigns.

征服者（特指十六世紀征服美洲的西班牙人；歷史課多用這個說法，很少音譯）