English
capillary
Capillary comes from Latin capillāris ‘pertaining to the hair’, and goes back to capillus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapillus1‘the hair, properly of the head’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapillāris1‘pertaining to the hair’
- Englishtodaycapillary1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English capillary
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapillusWiktionary, English capillary‘the hair, properly of the head’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapillārisWiktionary, English capillary‘pertaining to the hair’
- EnglishtodaycapillaryWiktionary, English capillary
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘head’
had, case, except, heavy, accept, receive, cash, behavior, catch, achieve, chase, capacity, heavily, cable, capable, recipe, reception, occupation, perception, haven, capture, behave, hawk, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, susceptible, deception, chassis, conceive, deceive, caption, captive, capsule, cater, deceptive, captivity, deceit, cassette, conceivable, 133 more
through Proto-Indo-European *káput ‘head’
through Proto-Italic *kaput ‘head’
capitalism, capitalize, capote, escapade, capitan, capitaine, 60 more
through Latin caput ‘head’
captain, capital, chapter, escape, chef, cattle, cabin, cape, chapel, precipitation, capitol, mischief, capita, cad, mischievous, chaplain, chieftain, precipitate, occipital, cabana, chattel, precipitous, caddie, chabot, capo, jefe, capa, scamper, scamp, capuchin, capitulate, kaput, chaperon, cabochon, caput, 68 more
through Latin capillus ‘the hair, properly of the head’
Today it means
adj Resembling or pertaining to hair, especially in slenderness or fineness.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “capillary”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin capillus / capillary