caput

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 Latin 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Usage notes 1.2.2 Inflection 1.2.3 Derived terms 1.2.4 References

[edit] Latin

[edit] Etymology

From Indoeuropean *kauput-. Cognates include German Kopf and Haupt.

[edit] Noun

caput (genitive capitis); n, third declension

1. head
2. anatomical term; headlike protuberance on an organ or body part, usually bone, for instance caput ulnae
3. a disease; a severe swelling of the soft tissues of a newborn's scalp that develops as the baby travels through the birth canal.
4. (figuratively) The vital part
5. (of a river) origin, source, head
   • Horace, Carmina, 1:1

     nunc ad aquae lene caput sacrae.

6. (figuratively) life
7. capital city
   • Ovid, Ab Urbe Condita, 1:16

     ut mea Roma caput orbis terrarum sit

   • Ovid, Ab Urbe Condita, 8:4

     Romam caput Latio esse

8. (poetic) leader, chief
9. chapter
10. accusative singular of caput
11. vocative singular of caput

[edit] Usage notes

Caput can be used with either a genitive or a dative in the sense of a capital city.

[edit] Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	caput	capita
genitive	capitis	capitum
dative	capitī	capitibus
accusative	caput	capita
ablative	capite	capitibus
vocative	caput	capita

[edit] Derived terms

anceps biceps capitālis capitium

centiceps deinceps prīnceps trīceps

[edit] References

• “caput” in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press)
• “head” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001