The governor of a Spanish province, acting as the chief civil and judicial authority, and as military commander-in-chief in time of war; (also) a military leader with the authority to explore, colonize, and govern new territories for the Spanish crown.
((n.) A governor of a province; a commander.)
Origin:
Late 16th century; earliest use found in Robert Parke (fl. 1588–1589), translator. From Spanish adelantado governor, use as noun (after Arabic muqaddam: see below) of the past participle of adelantar to advance, promote from adelante before, forward from ad to, at + el the + ante before.
