captain
See also: Captain
English
Etymology
From Middle English capitain, capteyn, from Old French capitaine, from Late Latin capitāneus, from Latin caput (“head”) (English cap). Doublet of chieftain, also from Old French.
Pronunciation
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- (naval, informal) IPA(key): /ˈkæp.ən/, [ˈkæpn̩], [ˈkæpm̩]
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
captain (plural captains)
- A chief or leader.
- 1526, The Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 2:
- For out of the shal come a captaine, whych shall govern my people israhel.
- 1929, Rudyard Kipling, "The English Way":
- Stand up-stand up, Northumberland! / I bid you answer true, / If England's King has under his hand / A Captain as good as you?
- 1526, The Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 2:
- The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.
- The captain is the last man to leave a sinking ship.
- An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.
- Template:RQ:EHough PrqsPrc
- "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there. […]."
- Template:RQ:EHough PrqsPrc
- A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.
- 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 an Army, Marine Corps, or Air Force colonel.
- 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.
- Remember the Titans
- Captain's supposed to be the leader, right?
- 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport:
- As Di Matteo celebrated and captain John Terry raised the trophy for the fourth time, the Italian increased his claims to become the permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas by landing a trophy.
- Remember the Titans
- The leader of a group of workers.
- John Henry said to the captain, "A man ain't nothing but a man."
- 1990, Marshall C. Eakin, A British Enterprise in Brazil
- The assistant mine captains then reported to the mine captain in charge of all underground operations and subordinate only to the superintendent himself.
- The head boy of a school.
- 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."
- 1977, Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey, lyricists, "Hotel California",
- (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
an army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major
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an air force officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major
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the person lawfully in command of a sea-going vessel
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the person lawfully in command of an airliner
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one of the athletes on a sports team designated to make decisions
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb
captain (third-person singular simple present captains, present participle captaining, simple past and past participle captained)
- (intransitive) To act as captain
- (transitive) To exercise command of a ship, aircraft or sports team.
Related terms
Translations
to act as a captain
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to exercise command
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Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- Southern US English
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Military ranks
- en:People