Captured

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkæp.ʃɚd/

Definitions

1. Seized as possession through either force or skill
2. Documented and preserved in detail for future reference
3. Taken under control by physical or tactical means ; preserved in a form that allows later viewing or analysis

Etymology: "Captured" is the past tense and past participle of "capture," so its history is really the history of that verb. English borrowed the noun from Middle French, where "capture" meant the act of seizing or taking someone or something, and that French word came from the Latin "captūra," a noun built on "capere," "to take" or "to seize." The same Latin root gave English "capacious," "captive," and "capable," so this family of words has been about grasping and holding for a very long time. The verb is a late arrival in the sense of taking by force. Before French words arrived after the Norman Conquest, English already had its own native verb for seizing, "ġefōn" (roughly "to grasp"), along with the noun "fenġ." The French borrowing "capture" displaced these native words, so the Old English vocabulary for taking gradually gave way to a Latin-derived one.

Synonyms: seized, taken

Antonyms: released, freed