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). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Doublet of chieftain, also from Old French.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.tɪn/
• (US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.tən/
• (naval, informal) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.ən/, [ˈkæpn̩], [ˈkæpm̩]

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (US, General Australian) -æptən

Noun

captain (plural captains)

1. A chief or leader.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew ij:

     For out of the shal come a captaine, whych shall govern my people israhel.

   • 1929, Rudyard Kipling, The English Way‎^[1]:

     Stand up-stand up, Northumberland! / I bid you answer true, / If England's King has under his hand / A Captain as good as you?

2. The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.
   • 1873, Jules Verne, chapter I, in [anonymous], transl., Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas; […], James R. Osgood edition, Boston, Mass.: Geo[rge] M[urray] Smith & Co., →OCLC, part I, page 3:

     Merchants, common sailors, captains of vessels, skippers, […] naval officers of all countries, and the Governments of several states on the two continents, were deeply interested in the matter.

   The captain is the last man to leave a sinking ship.

3. An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.
   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     "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. […]."

4. A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.
5. 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 a United States Army, Marine Corps, or Air Force colonel.
7. 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.
   • 2000, Gregory Allen Howard, 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.

8. 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.

9. The head boy of a school.
10. 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."

11. (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

• barangay captain
• bell captain
• block captain
• bus captain
• Captain America
• captain ball
• captaincy
• captainess
• captain-general
• captain general
• captainish
• captainless
• captainlike
• captainly
• captain of industry
• captain of the fleet
• captain regent
• captain save a hoe
• Captains Flat
• captainship
• captain's servant
• cocaptain
• copper captain
• corvette captain
• country captain
• cruiser captain
• donatary captain
• flag captain
• fleet captain
• flotilla captain
• frigate captain
• group captain
• led captain
• police captain
• post-captain
• post captain
• road captain
• school captain
• sea captain
• senior captain
• staff captain
• subcaptain
• the captain goes down with the ship
• train captain
• undercaptain
• vice-captain

 

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: kapten
• → Arabic: كبتن (kabtin)
• → Burmese: ကက်ပတိန် (kakpa.tin)
• → Hijazi Arabic: كبتن (kabtin)
• → Hindi: कप्तान (kaptān)
• → Japanese: キャプテン (kyaputen)
• → Korean: 캡틴 (kaeptin)
• → Maori: kāpene
• → Swahili: kapteni
• → Urdu: کپتان (kaptān)

Translations

an army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major

• Albanian: kapiten (sq) m
• Arabic: نَقِيب (ar) m (naqīb), قُبْطَان m (qubṭān)

  Hijazi Arabic: قُبْطان m (qubṭān, gubṭān)

• Armenian: կապիտան (hy) (kapitan)
• Belarusian: капіта́н m (kapitán)
• Bulgarian: капитан m (kapitan)
• Catalan: capità (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 上尉 (zh) (shàngwèi)

• Czech: kapitán (cs) m
• Danish: kaptajn (da)
• Dutch: kapitein (nl) m
• Esperanto: kapitano
• Finnish: kapteeni (fi)
• French: capitaine (fr)
• Galician: capitán (gl) m
• Georgian: კაპიტანი (ḳaṗiṭani)
• German: Stabshauptmann (de) m, Hauptmann (de) m
• Greek: λοχαγός (el) m (lochagós)

  Ancient: λοχαγός m (lokhagós)

• Hebrew: סֶרֶן (he) m (séren)
• Hungarian: százados (hu)
• Icelandic: kafteinn (is) m, höfuðsmaður m
• Indonesian: kapten (id)
• Irish: captaen m
• Italian: capitano (it) m
• Japanese: 大尉 (ja) (たいい, taii)
• Korean: 대위(大尉) (ko) (daewi)
• Macedonian: капетан m (kapetan)
• Malay: kapten
• Malayalam: കപ്പിത്താന് (kappittāṉ)
• Maori: kāpene
• Marathi: कॅप्टन m (kĕpṭan)
• Norman: cap'taine m (Jersey)
• Northern Ohlone: wétnés
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaptein m

  Nynorsk: kaptein m

• Occitan: capitani (oc) m
• Persian: سروان (fa) (sarvân)
• Plautdietsch: Kapitän m
• Polish: kapitan (pl) m
• Portuguese: capitão (pt) m
• Russian: капита́н (ru) m (kapitán)
• Scottish Gaelic: caiptean m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: са̏тнӣк m, са̏тница f, капѐта̄н m

  Roman: sȁtnīk (sh) m, sȁtnica (sh) f, kapètān (sh) m

• Slovak: kapitán m
• Slovene: stotnik m, stotnica f, kapétan (sl) m, kapétanka f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: stotnik m, hawptman m

• Spanish: capitán (es) m
• Swahili: kapteni (sw)
• Swedish: kapten (sv) c
• Tagalog: kapitan (tl)
• Thai: กัปตัน (th)
• Turkish: Yüzbaşı (tr)
• Ukrainian: капіта́н m (kapitán)
• Walloon: captinne (wa) m
• Welsh: capten m, capteniaid m pl
• Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַן m (kapitan)

a naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore or rear admiral

• Catalan: capità (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 海軍上校／海军上校 (zh) (hǎijūn shàngxiào)

• Czech: námořní kapitán m
• Danish: kommandør (da) m
• Dutch: kapitein (nl) m
• Esperanto: kapitano
• Finnish: kommodori (fi)
• French: capitaine de vaisseau
• Georgian: კაპიტანი (ḳaṗiṭani)
• German: Kapitän zur See (de) m
• Greek: πλοίαρχος (el) m (ploíarchos)
• Hebrew: קֶפְּטֵן (he) m (kepten)
• Hungarian: kapitány (hu)
• Indonesian: kapten (id)
• Irish: captaen m
• Italian: capitano di vascello m
• Japanese: 大佐 (ja) (たいさ, taisa)
• Korean: 대령(大領) (ko) (daeryeong)
• Maori: kāpene
• Marathi: कॅप्टन m (kĕpṭan)
• Norman: cap'taine m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kommandør m

  Nynorsk: kommandør m

• Ottoman Turkish: رئیس (reʼis)
• Persian: ناخدا (fa) (nâxodâ)
• Polish: kapitan (pl) m
• Portuguese: capitão (pt) m
• Russian: капита́н (ru) m (kapitán)
• Scottish Gaelic: caiptean m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: kapetan bojnog broda

• Swahili: kapteni (sw)
• Swedish: kommendör (sv) c
• Walloon: captinne (wa) m
• Welsh: capten m, capteniaid m pl
• Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַן m (kapitan)

an air force officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major

• Greek: σμηναγός (el) (sminagós)
• Indonesian: kapten (id)
• Marathi: कॅप्टन m (kĕpṭan)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaptein m

  Nynorsk: kaptein m

• Welsh: capten m, capteniaid m pl

the person lawfully in command of a sea-going vessel

• Albanian: kapiten (sq) m
• Arabic: طَيَّار m (ṭayyār), قُبْطَان m (qubṭān), رُبَّان m (rubbān)

  Hijazi Arabic: قُبطان m (gubṭān)

• Armenian: նավապետ (hy) (navapet)
• Aromanian: cãpitan m
• Belarusian: капіта́н m (kapitán)
• Bulgarian: капитан m (kapitan)
• Burmese: ကက်ပတိန် (my) (kakpa.tin)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 艦長／舰长 (zh) (jiànzhǎng)

• Czech: kapitán (cs) m
• Danish: kaptajn (da) c
• Dutch: gezagvoerder (nl) mkapitein (nl) m
• Egyptian: (sḫry)
• Erzya: венчазор (venčazor)
• Esperanto: kapitano
• Faroese: skipari m
• Finnish: kapteeni (fi)
• French: capitaine (fr)
• German: Kapitän (de) m
• Greek: πλοίαρχος (el) m (ploíarchos), (informal) καπετάνιος (el) m (kapetánios)

  Ancient: πρωρεύς m (prōreús)

• Hebrew: קְבַרְנִיט (he) m (qvarnít), רַב חוֹבֵל (he) m (rav ẖovél), קֶפְּטֵן (he) m (kepten)
• Hindi: जहाज़रान m (jahāzrān)
• Hungarian: kapitány (hu), parancsnok (hu)
• Icelandic: skipstjóri (is) m
• Indonesian: kapten (id), nakhoda (id)
• Irish: captaen m
• Italian: capitano (it) m
• Japanese: 船長 (ja) (せんちょう, senchō)
• Korean: 선장(船長) (ko) (seonjang)
• Latvian: kapteinis m
• Malay: kapten
• Middle English: schipman, mariner
• Ngazidja Comorian: nahudha class 5/6
• Norman: cap'taine m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaptein m, skipsfører m

  Nynorsk: kaptein m, skipsførar m

• Persian: کاپیتان (fa) (kâpitân)
• Plautdietsch: Kapitän m
• Polish: kapitan (pl) m
• Portuguese: capitão (pt) m, capitã (pt) f
• Romanian: căpitan (ro) m
• Russian: капита́н (ru) m (kapitán)
• Scottish Gaelic: caiptean m, sgiobair m
• Spanish: capitán (es) m
• Swahili: nahodha (sw)
• Swedish: kapten (sv)
• Thai: ไต้ก๋ง (th) (dtâi-gǒng)
• Turkish: kaptan (tr)
• Ukrainian: капіта́н m (kapitán)
• Welsh: capten m, capteniaid m pl
• Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַן m (kapitan)

the person lawfully in command of an airliner

• Arabic: طَيَّار m (ṭayyār)

  Hijazi Arabic: طَيَّار m (ṭayyār)

• Bulgarian: капитан m (kapitan)
• Burmese: ဗိုလ်ကြီး (my) (builkri:)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機長／机长 (zh) (jīzhǎng)

• Czech: kapitán (cs) m
• Danish: kaptajn (da) c
• Dutch: gezagvoerder (nl) m
• Finnish: kapteeni (fi), lentokapteeni (fi)
• French: capitaine (fr)
• German: Flugkapitän (de) m
• Greek: κυβερνήτης (el) m (kyvernítis), καπετάνιος (el) m (kapetánios) (informal)
• Hebrew: קְבַרְנִיט (he) m (qvarnít)
• Hungarian: kapitány (hu), parancsnok (hu)
• Icelandic: flugstjóri m
• Indonesian: kapten (id)
• Irish: captaen m
• Italian: capitano (it) m
• Japanese: 機長 (ja) (きちょう, kichō)
• Korean: 기장(機長) (ko) (gijang)
• Norman: cap'taine m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaptein m

  Nynorsk: kaptein m

• Polish: kapitan (pl) m
• Portuguese: capitão (pt) m
• Russian: капита́н (ru) m (kapitán)
• Scottish Gaelic: caiptean m
• Slovak: kapitán
• Spanish: capitán (es) m
• Swedish: kapten (sv)
• Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַן m (kapitan)

one of the athletes on a sports team designated to make decisions

• Arabic: قَائِد m (qāʔid), كَبْتِن m (kabtin)

  Hijazi Arabic: كَبْتِن m (kabtin)

• Armenian: ավագ (hy) (avag)
• Bulgarian: капитан m (kapitan)
• Catalan: capità (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 隊長／队长 (zh) (duìzhǎng)

• Czech: kapitán (cs) m
• Dutch: aanvoerder (nl) m
• Finnish: kapteeni (fi)
• French: capitaine (fr)
• German: Mannschaftskapitän (de) m
• Greek: αρχηγός (el) m (archigós)
• Hebrew: קֶפְּטֵן (he) m (kepten)
• Hungarian: csapatkapitány (hu)
• Icelandic: fyrirliði (is) m
• Indonesian: kapten (id)
• Irish: captaen m
• Italian: capitano (it) m
• Japanese: キャプテン (kyaputen)
• Korean: 캡틴 (kaeptin)
• Macedonian: капитен m (kapiten)
• Marathi: संघनायक m (saṅghnāyak), कर्णधार (mr) m (karṇadhār), कॅप्टन m (kĕpṭan)
• Norman: cap'taine m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kaptein m

  Nynorsk: kaptein m

• Persian: کاپیتان (fa) (kâpitân)
• Polish: kapitan (pl) m
• Portuguese: capitão (pt) m
• Russian: капита́н (ru) m (kapitán)
• Scottish Gaelic: caiptean m, sgiobair m
• Spanish: capitán (es) m
• Swahili: kapteni (sw)
• Swedish: kapten (sv)
• Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַן m (kapitan)

a maître d', a headwaiter — see maître d',‎ headwaiter

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

• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} კაპიტანი (ḳaṗiṭani)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} capitán (es) m
• West Frisian: ^{(please verify)} kaptein

Verb

captain (third-person singular simple present captains, present participle captaining, simple past and past participle captained)

1. (intransitive) To act as captain
2. (transitive) To exercise command of a ship, aircraft or sports team.

Related terms

• cap
• capital
• capitalism
• capitulate
• capitulation
• chapiter
• chapter
• chief
• chieftain

 

Translations

to act as a captain

• Catalan: capitanejar (ca)
• Finnish: olla kapteeni, toimia kapteenina
• Galician: capitanear (gl)
• Greek: ηγούμαι (el) (igoúmai)
• Polish: dowodzić (pl)
• Spanish: capitanear (es)
• Swahili: unahodha

to exercise command

• Bulgarian: командвам (bg) (komandvam), водя (bg) (vodja)
• Catalan: pilotar (ca) (aircraft, ship)
• Finnish: komentaa (fi), johtaa (fi)
• French: agir en capitaine, piloter (fr) (aircraft, ship)
• Galician: capitanear (gl)
• Greek: ηγούμαι (el) (igoúmai), κυβερνώ (el) (kyvernó) (vessel)
• Persian: هدایت کردن (fa) (hedâyat kardan)
• Polish: dowodzić (pl)
• Portuguese: pilotar (pt) (aircraft, ship)
• Spanish: capitanear (es), pilotar (es) (aircraft)
• Swahili: amrisha (sw)

Anagrams

• anti-cap, capitan, patican