Etymograph

English

captious

Captious comes from Latin captiōsus ‘fallacious, deceptive’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *kap-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-1root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptiō1‘deception, fraud, deceit, trick’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptiōsus1‘fallacious, deceptive’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600captieux1uncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500capcious1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1605captious1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English captious
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well: “[…]I know I loue in vaine, ſtriue againſt hope…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-Wiktionary, English captiousroot named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptiōWiktionary, English captious‘deception, fraud, deceit, trick’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaptiōsusWiktionary, English captious‘fallacious, deceptive’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600captieuxWiktionary, English captiousuncertain
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500capciousWiktionary, English captious
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1605captiousWiktionary, English captious. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1605, William Shakespeare, All's Well that Ends Well: “[…]I know I loue in vaine, ſtriue againſt hope…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap-

had, head, case, heavy, receive, except, cash, catch, accept, capital, achieve, heavily, behavior, chase, capacity, captain, cable, chapter, capable, escape, chef, recipe, haven, behave, cattle, recipient, cabin, occupation, capture, chapel, cape, hawk, reception, perception, capitol, anticipate, chassis, anticipation, capita, conceive, 176 more

Today it means

adj That captures; especially, (of an argument, words etc.) designed to capture or entrap in misleading arguments; sophistical.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “captious”. 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- / captious

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