Etymo

captain

A leader or an officer holding that rank.

Played on · Day 67 · word 5 of 5

The head became the person in charge

How captain reached English

oldest first

  1. Latin

    caput

    ‘Head’

    into Late Latin

  2. Late Latin

    capitaneus

    ‘Chief’

    into Anglo-French

  3. Anglo-French

    capitain

    ‘A military leader; a ship's commander’

    into Middle English

  4. Middle English

    capitane

    ‘A leader or chief’

    became English

  5. English

    captain

    ‘Leader or rank’

The story of captain

Latin caput supplied Late Latin capitaneus, meaning chief. The word passed through Anglo-French capitain and Middle English capitane.

Capit- is the Latin stem used in formation, not an additional historical word to rank.

Sources

Related

The sense of a head and the role of a leader meet in this ancestry.

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