Etymology

captain

C3A1P3T1A1I1N1

Today it means: A chief or leader. Full definition →

Middle English capitain ← Old French capitaine ← Late Latin capitāneu
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  4. Proto-Italic*kaput
  5. Latincaput
  6. Late Latincapitāneu
  7. Old Frenchcapitaine
  8. Middle Englishcapitain
  9. English todaycaptain

From Middle English capitain, capteyn, from Old French capitaine, from Late Latin capitāneus, from Latin caput (“head”) (English cap). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Doublet of chieftain, also from Old French.

Words from the same roots

Late Latincapitāneus all →

chieftain

Latincaput all →

capeachievecapchefcorporalmischiefchieftaincabochoncaddiejefecaputcaudillocadelcapitecapitellumcapitulecattleheadchapemulticipital

Proto-Indo-European*kap- all →

heavyoccupationcapitalismchieftainheftcaddieprecipicecapitalisticcapitulationcapitulateprecipitantcadelcapitellumkapala

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.