Etymograph

English

capitular

Capitular comes from Late Latin capitulāre ‘head tax, poll tax’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kap-.

  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‘head’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapitulum4‘a small head, a chapter’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapitulāre4‘head tax, poll tax’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1726capitular4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *káput
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin caput
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin capitulum
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English capitular
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or: “The chapter itself, and all its members or capitulars.”.

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, Latin capitulum‘head’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapitulumWiktionary, English capitular‘a small head, a chapter’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcapitulāreWiktionary, English capitular‘head tax, poll tax’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1726capitularWiktionary, English capitular. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani: Or: “The chapter itself, and all its members or capitulars.”

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, behave, capture, hawk, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, susceptible, deception, chassis, conceive, deceive, caption, captive, cater, deceptive, cassette, capsule, conceivable, captivity, casket, 137 more

through Proto-Indo-European *káput ‘head’

head, 63 more

through Proto-Italic *kaput ‘head’

capote, escapade, 64 more

through Latin caput ‘head’

captain, escape, chef, cattle, cabin, cape, chapel, capitalism, precipitation, mischief, cad, mischievous, chaplain, chieftain, capitalize, cabana, precipitate, chattel, caddie, occipital, precipitous, chabot, capo, jefe, dishevelled, capa, scamper, capillary, scamp, capuchin, kaput, chaperon, cabochon, caput, capitaine, 68 more

through Latin capitulum ‘a small head, a chapter’

chapter, 8 more

Another origin of capitular

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-‘head’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*káput‘head’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaput‘head’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaput‘head’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapitulum‘a small head, a chapter’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500capitulāris
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500capituler
  8. Englishtodaycapitular

Today it means

noun An act passed in a chapter.

Sources

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

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