Capitulate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kəˈpɪ.tjʊ.leɪt/

Definitions

1. To surrender unconditionally or agree to demands under pressure, typically after resistance has become futile
2. To cease resistance and accept defeat or terms proposed by an opponent
3. To give in to pressure or force, often after negotiation or conflict

Etymology: The verb "capitulate" grew out of a meaning of "chapter" that has almost nothing to do with surrender. In medieval Latin, "capitulare" meant to arrange a text under distinct headings, and the word for those headings, "capitulum," was a diminutive of "caput," "head." A chapter was literally a little head: a division at the top of a section of writing. The sense of drawing up terms in orderly articles later extended to the articles of an agreement, and bargaining over such terms, which is where the modern idea of yielding under negotiated conditions comes from. English borrowed the word from medieval Latin in the 1500s, first as an adjective in 1528 and as the verb in 1537. Its meaning stayed closer to the bargaining sense for a while, and the adjective was used commonly into Early Modern English. The sense of giving in is therefore the end of a path that began with headings on a page.

Synonyms: surrender, yield, submit, concede, give in

Antonyms: resist, defend, fight, withstand, oppose