Etymograph

English

capitaine

Capitaine comes from French capitaine ‘captain, leader’, from Late Latin capitaneus ‘capital (of letters)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘head’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-1‘head’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*káput2‘head’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaput2‘head’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaput3‘the head’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapitaneus3‘capital (of letters)’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400capitaine3‘captain’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600capitaine3‘captain’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentcapitaine4‘captain, leader’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1996capitaine4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *káput
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin caput
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French capitaine
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English capitaine
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1996, Nicola Pezolet, SS Alsace (FT) #21, Cafe' discussions: “(traducted from french to english): "Captain, I didn't tell…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *káput‘head’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*káputWiktionary, Latin caput‘head’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaputWiktionary, Latin caput‘head’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaputWiktionary, French capitaine‘the head’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapitaneusWiktionary, French capitaine‘capital (of letters)’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400capitaineWiktionary, French capitaine‘captain’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600capitaineWiktionary, French capitaine‘captain’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentcapitaineWiktionary, English capitaine‘captain, leader’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1996capitaineWiktionary, English capitaine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1996, Nicola Pezolet, SS Alsace (FT) #21, Cafe' discussions: “(traducted from french to english): "Captain, I didn't tell…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap- ‘head’

had, case, except, heavy, accept, receive, cash, behavior, catch, achieve, heavily, chase, cable, capable, recipe, reception, capacity, occupation, perception, haven, capture, behave, hawk, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, susceptible, deception, chassis, conceive, deceive, caption, captive, capsule, cater, deceptive, cassette, conceivable, captivity, casket, 139 more

through Proto-Indo-European *káput ‘head’

head, 65 more

through Proto-Italic *kaput ‘head’

capote, escapade, 66 more

through Latin caput ‘the head’

chapter, escape, chef, cattle, cape, chapel, cabin, mischief, precipitation, cad, mischievous, chaplain, cabana, chattel, capillary, caddie, precipitate, precipitous, chabot, capo, jefe, dishevelled, occipital, capa, scamper, scamp, capitulate, kaput, chaperon, capuchin, cabochon, caput, 70 more

through Late Latin capitaneus ‘capital (of letters)’

chieftain, 3 more

through Old French capitaine ‘captain’

captain, 1 more

Today it means

noun A captain.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “capitaine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *káput, Latin caput, French capitaine. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *kap- / capitaine

Shirt and support for this word