captor

English

Alternative forms

• captour (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin captor, from Latin capiō. English usage began around 1688.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæptɚ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æptə(ɹ)

Noun

captor (plural captors)

1. One who is holding a captive or captives.
2. One who catches or has caught or captured something or someone.

Synonyms

• (one holding a captive): guard, jailer, kidnapper
• (one who catches someone or something): arrester, nabber

Derived terms

• captress
• recaptor

Translations

one who is holding a captive

• Catalan: segrestador m, segrestadora f
• Czech: věznitel (cs) m
• German: Entführer (de) m, Entführerin (de) f
• Māori: kaihopu
• Portuguese: captor (pt) m, captora f
• Spanish: secuestrador (es) m, secuestradora (es) f
• Swedish: tillfångatagare c

one who has captured something or someone

• Catalan: atrapador m, atrapadora f
• German: Fänger (de) m, Fängerin (de) f
• Old English: *fenġa m
• Portuguese: captor (pt) m, captora f
• Spanish: captor (es) m, captora f
• Swedish: tillfångatagare c

See also

• captee
• captive
• captivity

Anagrams

• cartop, proact

Latin

Etymology

From the verb capīo (“to take, capture, seize”).

Verb

captor

1. first-person singular present passive indicative of captō

Noun

captor m (genitive captōris, feminine captrīx); third declension

1. one who catches or captures
2. captor
3. hunter, huntsman

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	captor	captōrēs
genitive	captōris	captōrum
dative	captōrī	captōribus
accusative	captōrem	captōrēs
ablative	captōre	captōribus
vocative	captor	captōrēs

Related terms

• capiō
• captōrium
• captōrius
• captūra
• captus

Descendants

• English: captor
• Italian: cattore
• Portuguese: captor
• Spanish: captor

References

• “captor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "captor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “captor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin captor.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kapˈtoʁ/ [kapˈtoh], /ka.piˈtoʁ/ [ka.piˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kapˈtoʁ/ [kapˈtoh], /ka.piˈtoʁ/ [ka.piˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kapˈtoɾ/, /ka.piˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kapˈtoʁ/ [kapˈtoχ], /ka.piˈtoʁ/ [ka.piˈtoχ]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /kapˈtoɻ/, /ka.piˈtoɻ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kapˈtoʁ/ [kapˈtoh]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kaˈptoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kaˈptoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kaˈpto.ɾi/

• Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -oɾ, (Brazil) -oʁ
• Hyphenation: cap‧tor

Noun

captor m (plural captores, feminine captora, feminine plural captoras)

1. captor
   • 2018 November 13, “A espada” (18:58 from the start), in She-Ra e as Princesas do Poder, season 1, episode 1 (streaming), spoken by Adora (Lina Mendes), Rio de Janeiro: Gramophone, dubbing of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: The Sword, via Netflix:

     Prefiro não trocar gentilezas com meus captores.

     [original: I prefer not to swap pleasantries with my captors.]

Further reading

• “captor”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “captor”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026
• “captor”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “captor”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin captor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kabˈtoɾ/ [kaβ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: cap‧tor

Noun

captor m (plural captores, feminine captora, feminine plural captoras)

1. captor
   • 2015 July 17, “Dos detenidos por secuestrar a una joven por una deuda de drogas”, in El País‎^[1]:

     Los agentes pudieron rescatar a la mujer un día y medio más tarde, cuando sus captores la trasladaban en un vehículo.

     The police officers were able to rescue the woman a day and a half later, when her captors were transporting her in a vehicle.

Further reading

• “captor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025