Captain

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkæp.tɪn/

Definitions

1. A person who leads or commands a ship, aircraft, sports team, or military unit
2. A leader who oversees and directs the operation of a ship, aircraft, sports team, or military unit, making important decisions and strategies
3. Someone in charge of navigating and controlling a ship or airplane ; the official who guides and coordinates a sports team during games ; a commissioned officer in the armed forces with command responsibilities

Etymology: The word "captain" is a head word in more than one sense: Latin "caput" meant "head," and a captain was, quite literally, the one at the top. Late Latin built "capitāneus" from it, meaning something like "chief" or "head man," and Old French turned that into "capitaine," which passed into Middle English as "capitain" and "capteyn" before settling into its modern spelling. The "cap" in "captain" is therefore the same "cap" you find in "capital," "cape" (headland) and "chapter" once they are traced back to the same root. A nice twist is that "captain" and "chieftain" are doublets: two English words that sprang from the same source by different routes. Both came through Old French, so the same ancient idea of "head" reached English twice, once in the form "captain" and once as "chieftain."

Synonyms: leader, commander, skipper, chief, director

Antonyms: follower, subordinate, underling, private, recruit