captain

English Online Dictionary. What means captain‎? What does captain mean?

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.tɪn/
• (US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.tən/
• (naval, informal) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.ən/, [ˈkæpn̩], [ˈkæpm̩]
• Rhymes: (US, General Australian) -æptən

Noun

captain (plural captains)

1. A chief or leader.
2. The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.

3. An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.
4. A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.
5. A commissioned officer in the United States Navy, Coast Guard, NOAA Corps, or PHS Corps of a grade superior to a commander and junior to a rear admiral (lower half). A captain is equal in grade or rank to a United States Army, Marine Corps, or Air Force colonel.
7. One of the athletes on a sports team who is designated to make decisions, and is allowed to speak for his team with a referee or official.
8. The leader of a group of workers.
9. The head boy of a school.
10. A maître d', a headwaiter.
    • 1977, Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey, lyricists, "Hotel California",

      So I called up the Captain, "Please bring me my wine." / He said: "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969."

11. (Southern US) An honorific title given to a prominent person. See colonel.

Synonyms

• (leader of a group of workers): supervisor, straw boss, foreman
• (commander of a vessel): skipper, master
• (pilot in command): pilot, pilot in command
• (military rank): CAPT, CAPT., Capt., Capt, CPT (abbreviation)

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

Verb

captain (third-person singular simple present captains, present participle captaining, simple past and past participle captained)

1. (intransitive) To act as captain
2. (transitive) To exercise command of a ship, aircraft or sports team.

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• anti-cap, capitan, patican