Kapitän
German
Etymology
From Middle High German kapitān, borrowed (13th c.) in the military sense from Old French capitaine (“leader”), from Late Latin capitāneus. The nautical sense (15th c.) follows Italian capitano. The sport sense (early 20th c.) follows English captain.
Pronunciation
Noun
Kapitän m (strong, genitive Kapitäns or (rare, nonstandard) Kapitänes, plural Kapitäne, feminine Kapitänin)
- (nautical, aviation) captain
- 1915, Else Ury, Nesthäkchen im Kinderheim; in: 2016, Karl-Maria Guth (editor), Nesthäkchen Gesamtausgabe in zwei Bänden. Erster Band, p. 327:
- Es war Frau Kapitän Clarsen, Annemaries Pensionsmutter.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1915, Else Ury, Nesthäkchen im Kinderheim; in: 2016, Karl-Maria Guth (editor), Nesthäkchen Gesamtausgabe in zwei Bänden. Erster Band, p. 327:
- (military, navy) Short for Kapitän zur See (“captain: high-level officer rank equivalent to an army colonel”).
- (other military, obsolete, except in translation of cognate words) captain (medium-level officer rank)
- Synonym: Hauptmann
- (sports) captain (player who leads a team and serves as contact person for the referee)
- Synonym: Spielführer
Declension
Declension of Kapitän [masculine, strong]
Related terms
- Flottenkapitän
- Flugkapitän
- Fregattenkapitän
- Kapitänleutnant
- Kapitänsbinde
- Kapitänskajüte (Kajüte des Kapitäns)
- Korvettenkapitän
Further reading
Plautdietsch
Noun
Kapitän m (plural Kapitäns)
Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Old French
- German terms derived from Late Latin
- German terms derived from Italian
- German terms derived from English
- German 3-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German masculine nouns
- de:Nautical
- de:Aviation
- German terms with quotations
- de:Military
- German short forms
- German terms with obsolete senses
- de:Sports
- de:Occupations
- Plautdietsch lemmas
- Plautdietsch nouns
- Plautdietsch masculine nouns