Captains

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkæp.tɪnz/

Definitions

1. Individuals who command or are in charge of a ship or aircraft ; persons who lead or direct a team or group in various activities
2. People responsible for navigating and managing a vessel or airplane ; those who serve as the chief or main players and organizers in a team or group
3. Commanders of marine or air transportation vehicles entrusted with control and safety ; leaders appointed to guide or represent a team in sports, work, or other collective efforts

Etymology: "Captains" is the plural of "captain," and the singular has a surprisingly literal origin: it comes from the Latin "caput," meaning "head." Late Latin formed "capitaneus" from that root, meaning something like "chief" or "leader," and the word passed into Old French as "capitaine" before reaching Middle English as "capitain" and "capteyn." The same Old French source also gave English "chieftain," so the two words are doublets, two forms of one word that entered English by different routes. Because the English "cap" (as in a headcovering) also descends from "caput," the captain is, etymologically, the head of the group, and the link between the two words is a shared ancestor rather than a loan from one to the other. The word's root reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European form, but its meaning was already fixed as "head" and "chief" long before any ship or sports team needed a leader.

Synonyms: leaders, chiefs, commanders, skippers, directors

Antonyms: subordinates, followers, underlings, minions, employees