1. owners of large estates or plantations, especially in Latin America
Usage: historical; plural form

Examples

• The hacendados controlled vast territories in colonial Mexico.
• Many hacendados employed hundreds of workers on their estates.
• The revolution challenged the power of the wealthy hacendados.
• Local hacendados often served as regional political leaders.
• The hacendados’ influence extended beyond agriculture into politics.
• Small farmers struggled to compete with the powerful hacendados.