Los Conquistadores! Conquerors or seducers?
I'm going on a five week missions trip to Matamoros, Mexico this summer and the members of our team were discussing a making a "team name." The consensus was Los Conquistadores de Cristo! In searching "conquistador", I see that some definitions are not what we're going for. Does anyone know if there are negative or sexual connotations with the word, particularly in Mexico?
Please and thank you!
Conquistador, -Ora adjective 1. seductive (seductor) masculine or feminine noun 2. conqueror (de tierras) 3. conquistador (history) masculine noun 4. Casanova, ladykiller (seductor)
5 Answers
I'd advise against using that team name in Mexico, simply because Mexicans are famed for having a wonderful time teasing people to death with word games and innuendo. 
There's no particularly sexual connotation to "conquistador", but it is definitely a term use for "seducer". Whether you want to risk it or not, that's worth thinking about.
There is another aspect of this name that perhaps you haven't considered, and it is that for many people the concept of "conquistador", as in the Spanish Conquerors, is not such a nice one. A lot of people, specially nowadays, think of the Spanish conquest more in terms of their barbaric deeds, the pillaging, the slavery, the genocide, and the annihilation of many cultures, than in terms of the arguable merits of having brought Western culture (and Christianity) into the "New World".
So the name could end up not only eliciting some cheap laughs, but it could also bring images of violent imposition of belief, instead of the gentle, loving teachings of the son of God.
Food for thought.
Sara: I am completely unqualified to give an opinion on the connotation, as I live in Alabama. But it occurs to me that the conquistadores were kinda the bad guys in Latin American history (ok i'm not qualified to talk about that either, and I welcome corrections). You might also want to consider this: you know in Romans where it says we are "more than conquerers" in Jesus? In my Spanish Bible, it says "más que vencedores" Maybe that's a word you might want to consider. 
Thanks everybody! I don't expect this name to really go outside our team, but this is awesome information that I am passing on. Thank you so much :D
I would not use the word conquistadores in México for anything. Read the history of México.The wound is still open.
How to conquer the heart of a woman
Is that sentence talking about a conqueror or a seducer? The fact that you don't say "conqueror" for "seducer" does not mean that conquer cannot be used to seduce.
The precise meaning depends on who uses it and how.
