capitania

See also: capitanía and capitânia

English

Etymology

From Portuguese capitania.

Noun

capitania (plural capitanias)

1. (historical) Synonym of captaincy (“former division of Spanish and Portuguese empires”).

Portuguese

Etymology

From capitão +‎ -ia. Doublet of capitânia.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.pi.taˈni.ɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.pi.taˈni.ɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.pi.taˈni.a/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.pi.tɐˈni.ɐ/

• Rhymes: -iɐ
• Hyphenation: ca‧pi‧ta‧ni‧a

Noun

capitania f (plural capitanias)

1. (historical) captaincy (administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires)
   • 16th century, Pero de Magalhães Gândavo, “da capitania de Tamaracá [of the Tamaracá captaincy]” (chapter 1), in Tractado da Terra do Brasil no qual se cõtem a informação das couſas que ha nestas partes [Treatise of the Brazilian Land, which contains information about the things on these parts], page 4v:

     A pouoaçaõ da primeira capitania e mais antiga eſtá nuã ilha que ſe chama Tamaracá […]

     The settlement of the first and oldest captaincy is on an island called Tamaracá.

Derived terms

• capitania do porto
• capitania hereditária
• capitania-donataria
• capitania-geral

Descendants

• → English: capitania

Further reading

• “capitania”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “capitania”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026