chapiter

English

Etymology

Middle English chapiter, from Old French chapitre, from Latin capitulum, diminutive of caput (“head”). Doublet of chapter and capitulum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃæpɪtɚ/

Noun

chapiter (plural chapiters)

1. Obsolete form of chapter.
   • 1997, C. S. Knighton, Acts of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, 1543-1609, page 102:

     Upon Friday the xxth daye of September in the yere before wrytten ther was a chapiter holden by Mr Deane and certen of the prebendaryes , at the whiche chapiter they dyd admitt ij peticanons and a clarke, that is to saye Syr John Thomas in to the rome of Sir Ellys Pecoke, Syr Wyllyam Laynborrow in the rome of Syr Ludgolde, and John Marshall in to Fox rome.

2. (architecture) The capital or uppermost part of a column, upon which the roof and its decorations are supported.
   • 1891, Albert Gallatin Mackey, Manual of the Lodge, page 70:

     Also he made before the house two pillars of thirty and five cubits high, and the chapiter that was on the top of each of them was five cubits.

3. (UK, law, obsolete) A written summary of matters to be inquired of or presented before justices in eyre, or justices of assize, or of the peace, in their sessions; articles.
   • 1607, John Cowell, The Interpreter:

     and when the time commeth , the shyrecue shall certifie the chapiters before the Justices in Eire, how many writs he hath and what & c.

   • 1812, John Rastell, William Rastell, Les Termes de la Ley: Or, Certain Difficult and Obscure Words and Terms of the Common and Statute Laws of England, Now in Use, Expounded and Explained, page 78:

     And at this day chapiters are called articles, for the most part, and are delivered as well by the mouth of the justice in his charge, as by the clerks in writing, to the inquest, where in ancient time they were (after an exhortation given by the justices, for the good observation of the laws and of the king's peace) first read distinctly and openly in the full court, and then delivered in writing to the grand inquest.

   • 1822, James Lowe, Observations on Fees in Courts of Justice, page v:

     To these twelve knights, when returned and sworn, the chapiters or articles of their charge were read, and one part in writing, indented, was delivered to them, and the other part remained with the justices, who gave commandment to the knights, that to every chapiter or article they should answer, in their verdict, severally and by itself, sufficiently, distinctly, and openly.

Translations

uppermost part of a column — see capital

Anagrams

• patchier, phreatic, pie chart, piechart