What does captain mean?
Definitions for captain
ˈkæp tən, -tɪncap·tain
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word captain.
Princeton's WordNet
captainnoun
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
captain, skippernoun
the naval officer in command of a military ship
captain, police captain, police chiefnoun
a policeman in charge of a precinct
master, captain, sea captain, skippernoun
an officer who is licensed to command a merchant ship
captain, chieftainnoun
the leader of a group of people
"a captain of industry"
captain, senior pilotnoun
the pilot in charge of an airship
captain, headwaiter, maitre d'hotel, maitre d'verb
a dining-room attendant who is in charge of the waiters and the seating of customers
captainverb
be the captain of a sports team
Wiktionary
captainnoun
A chief or leader.
captainnoun
The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.
The captain is the last man to leave a sinking ship.
captainnoun
An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.
captainnoun
A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.
captainnoun
A commissioned officer in the United States Navy, Coast Guard, NOAA Corps, or PHS Corps of a grade superior to a commander and junior to a rear admiral (lower half). A captain is equal in grade or rank to an Army, Marine Corps, or Air Force colonel.
captainnoun
One of the athletes on a sports team who designated to make decisions, and is allowed to speak for his team with a referee or official.
captainnoun
The leader of a group of workers.
John Henry said to the captain, "A man ain't nothing but a man."
captainnoun
A maître d'.
captainnoun
An honorific title given to a prominent person. See colonel.
captainverb
To act as captain
captainverb
To exercise command of a ship, aircraft or sports team.
Etymology: From capitaine, from capitaneus, from caput (English cap).
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
CAPTAINnoun
Etymology: capitain, Fr.
Dismay’d not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? William Shakespeare, Macbeth.A captain! these villains will make the name of captain as odious as the word occupy; therefore captains had need look to it. William Shakespeare, Henry IV. p. ii.
The grim captain, in a surly tone,
Cries out, pack up, ye rascals, and be gone. Dryden.The Rhodian captain, relying on his knowledge, and the lightness of his vessel, passed, in open day, through all the guards. John Arbuthnot, on Coins.
And evermore their cruel capitain
Sought with his rascal routs t’ inclose them round. Fairy Q.
Wikipedia
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, etc. In militaries, the captain is typically at the level of an officer commanding a company or battalion of infantry, a ship, or a battery of artillery, or another distinct unit. The term also may be used as an informal or honorary title for persons in similar commanding roles.
ChatGPT
Captain
A captain is a person who is designated to lead and take charge of a group of individuals, often within a military, naval, or aviation context. They are responsible for overseeing and commanding their crew members, ensuring smooth operations, and making important decisions related to the safety and efficiency of their team. Captains are typically experienced and knowledgeable individuals who possess strong leadership skills. The specific responsibilities and authorities of a captain may vary depending on the organization or industry in which they serve.
Webster Dictionary
Captainnoun
a head, or chief officer
Captainnoun
the military officer who commands a company, troop, or battery, or who has the rank entitling him to do so though he may be employed on other service
Captainnoun
an officer in the United States navy, next above a commander and below a commodore, and ranking with a colonel in the army
Captainnoun
by courtesy, an officer actually commanding a vessel, although not having the rank of captain
Captainnoun
the master or commanding officer of a merchant vessel
Captainnoun
one in charge of a portion of a ship's company; as, a captain of a top, captain of a gun, etc
Captainnoun
the foreman of a body of workmen
Captainnoun
a person having authority over others acting in concert; as, the captain of a boat's crew; the captain of a football team
Captainnoun
a military leader; a warrior
Captainverb
to act as captain of; to lead
Captainadjective
chief; superior
Etymology: [OE. capitain, captain, OF. capitain, F. capitaine (cf. Sp. capitan, It. capitano), LL. capitaneus, capitanus, fr. L. caput the head. See under Chief, and cf. Chieftain.]
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Captain
kap′tān, or kap′tin, n. a head or chief officer: the commander of a troop of horse, a company of infantry, or a ship: the overseer of a mine: the leader of a team or club: the head-boy of a school.—v.t. to lead.—ns. Cap′taincy, the rank or commission of a captain; Cap′tain-gen′eral, chief commander of an army; Cap′tainship, Cap′tainry (obs.), rank or condition of a captain: skill in commanding. [O. Fr. capitaine—Low L. capitaneus, chief—L. caput, head.]
Dictionary of Nautical Terms
captain
This title is said to be derived from the eastern military magistrate katapan, meaning "over everything;" but the term capitano was in use among the Italians nearly 200 years before Basilius II. appointed his katapan of Apulia and Calabria, A.D. 984. Hence, the corruption of the Apulian province into capitanata. Among the Anglo-Saxons the captain was schipp-hláford, or ship's lord. The captain, strictly speaking, is the officer commanding a line-of-battle ship, or a frigate carrying twenty or more cannon. A captain in the royal navy is answerable for any bad conduct in the military government, navigation, and equipment of his ship; also for any neglect of duty in his inferior officers, whose several charges he is appointed to regulate. It is also a title, though incorrectly, given to the masters of all vessels whatever, they having no commissions. It is also applied in the navy itself to the chief sailor of particular gangs of men; in rank, captain of the forecastle, admiral's coxswain, captain's coxswain, captain of the hold, captain of main-top, captain of fore-top, &c.
captain
A name given to the crooner, crowner, or gray gurnard (Trigla gurnardus).
Military Dictionary and Gazetteer
captain
In a limited and technical sense, is the title of an officer who commands a troop of cavalry, a company of infantry, or a battery of artillery. He is the next in rank below a major, and in the U. S. army is responsible for the camp and garrison equipage, the arms, ammunition, and clothing of his company.
Suggested Resources
captain
Song lyrics by captain -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by captain on the Lyrics.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
CAPTAIN
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Captain is ranked #21811 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Captain surname appeared 1,192 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Captain.
53.2% or 635 total occurrences were White.
28.4% or 339 total occurrences were Black.
9.6% or 115 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
5% or 60 total occurrences were of two or more races.
2% or 24 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
1.5% or 19 total occurrences were Asian.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'captain' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1900
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'captain' in Written Corpus Frequency: #3781
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'captain' in Nouns Frequency: #827
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1507","2"],["1524","12"],["1563","10"],["1564","2"],["1574","1"],["1575","34"],["1579","14"],["1582","10"],["1584","11"],["1587","4"],["1590","49"],["1594","1"],["1598","1"],["1607","1"],["1620","1"],["1624","55"],["1635","4"],["1637","388"],["1644","1"],["1645","6"],["1647","1"],["1648","5"],["1649","3"],["1652","2"],["1656","1"],["1657","15"],["1662","8"],["1663","1"],["1668","2"],["1669","42"],["1675","2"],["1676","2"],["1677","1"],["1678","4"],["1679","2"],["1681","11"],["1683","12"],["1684","18"],["1685","6"],["1686","12"],["1687","1"],["1688","1"],["1693","3"],["1696","2"],["1698","4"],["1700","5"],["1703","9"],["1705","4"],["1706","3"],["1707","1"],["1708","3"],["1709","1"],["1710","3"],["1712","6"],["1713","5"],["1714","20"],["1715","3"],["1716","11"],["1717","11"],["1718","3"],["1719","284"],["1720","8"],["1721","3"],["1722","65"],["1723","192"],["1724","16"],["1725","22"],["1726","26"],["1727","159"],["1728","126"],["1729","26"],["1730","7"],["1731","35"],["1732","20"],["1733","53"],["1734","12"],["1735","56"],["1736","22"],["1737","80"],["1738","45"],["1739","11"],["1740","87"],["1741","32"],["1742","93"],["1743","135"],["1744","57"],["1745","25"],["1746","207"],["1747","45"],["1748","140"],["1749","216"],["1750","766"],["1751","443"],["1752","186"],["1753","521"],["1754","676"],["1755","724"],["1756","271"],["1757","768"],["1758","444"],["1759","2543"],["1760","1081"],["1761","910"],["1762","560"],["1763","1378"],["1764","1495"],["1765","309"],["1766","1498"],["1767","1562"],["1768","1276"],["1769","590"],["1770","1003"],["1771","933"],["1772","550"],["1773","538"],["1774","861"],["1775","521"],["1776","981"],["1777","511"],["1778","630"],["1779","3475"],["1780","816"],["1781","665"],["1782","852"],["1783","851"],["1784","714"],["1785","3073"],["1786","889"],["1787","1809"],["1788","1109"],["1789","860"],["1790","2146"],["1791","846"],["1792","1724"],["1793","977"],["1794","3952"],["1795","6214"],["1796","5697"],["1797","8083"],["1798","5091"],["1799","1442"],["1800","3269"],["1801","4275"],["1802","6931"],["1803","3874"],["1804","4666"],["1805","7188"],["1806","5487"],["1807","4603"],["1808","5764"],["1809","5640"],["1810","8367"],["1811","7935"],["1812","11303"],["1813","8189"],["1814","10827"],["1815","7104"],["1816","8553"],["1817","10711"],["1818","13231"],["1819","7148"],["1820","11924"],["1821","7270"],["1822","10496"],["1823","10592"],["1824","16576"],["1825","12740"],["1826","14361"],["1827","10642"],["1828","12119"],["1829","13607"],["1830","12495"],["1831","12135"],["1832","12501"],["1833","13670"],["1834","13283"],["1835","14457"],["1836","18313"],["1837","24379"],["1838","14500"],["1839","16034"],["1840","16520"],["1841","14287"],["1842","12269"],["1843","14080"],["1844","16215"],["1845","19504"],["1846","18001"],["1847","19110"],["1848","14405"],["1849","16833"],["1850","17877"],["1851","19900"],["1852","21355"],["1853","23176"],["1854","25196"],["1855","23386"],["1856","31031"],["1857","25884"],["1858","15792"],["1859","22738"],["1860","26099"],["1861","25201"],["1862","17852"],["1863","16485"],["1864","22502"],["1865","21700"],["1866","22951"],["1867","19675"],["1868","23695"],["1869","24999"],["1870","15795"],["1871","19571"],["1872","18654"],["1873","19752"],["1874","24479"],["1875","25147"],["1876","24288"],["1877","24599"],["1878","18943"],["1879","21025"],["1880","27798"],["1881","27087"],["1882","30979"],["1883","37709"],["1884","31561"],["1885","27449"],["1886","27326"],["1887","32955"],["1888","32151"],["1889","28200"],["1890","33181"],["1891","34011"],["1892","39594"],["1893","39261"],["1894","36335"],["1895","43825"],["1896","48654"],["1897","43524"],["1898","53957"],["1899","57064"],["1900","64992"],["1901","51384"],["1902","60117"],["1903","55576"],["1904","61728"],["1905","49861"],["1906","50461"],["1907","48254"],["1908","45437"],["1909","48055"],["1910","44676"],["1911","52787"],["1912","45670"],["1913","37509"],["1914","41959"],["1915","33292"],["1916","33024"],["1917","41019"],["1918","34045"],["1919","36788"],["1920","37995"],["1921","31398"],["1922","41764"],["1923","33779"],["1924","31667"],["1925","34972"],["1926","34037"],["1927","33030"],["1928","38282"],["1929","35912"],["1930","34681"],["1931","33432"],["1932","25736"],["1933","23455"],["1934","26822"],["1935","27366"],["1936","30908"],["1937","32545"],["1938","29063"],["1939","27243"],["1940","29491"],["1941","26823"],["1942","27943"],["1943","25777"],["1944","22219"],["1945","22527"],["1946","27933"],["1947","30766"],["1948","29786"],["1949","30864"],["1950","29144"],["1951","30581"],["1952","30027"],["1953","28256"],["1954","34382"],["1955","37318"],["1956","36021"],["1957","36460"],["1958","34803"],["1959","38047"],["1960","41496"],["1961","44928"],["1962","51468"],["1963","54805"],["1964","47453"],["1965","52080"],["1966","59857"],["1967","67563"],["1968","68496"],["1969","74509"],["1970","67992"],["1971","57787"],["1972","61959"],["1973","52849"],["1974","51376"],["1975","52594"],["1976","55661"],["1977","56121"],["1978","59220"],["1979","61152"],["1980","64469"],["1981","61454"],["1982","62514"],["1983","68330"],["1984","71454"],["1985","67527"],["1986","77631"],["1987","86505"],["1988","89139"],["1989","87032"],["1990","96174"],["1991","94887"],["1992","103700"],["1993","90533"],["1994","108459"],["1995","111835"],["1996","115415"],["1997","117577"],["1998","131527"],["1999","149387"],["2000","177099"],["2001","178344"],["2002","196562"],["2003","215863"],["2004","281239"],["2005","242837"],["2006","282244"],["2007","371875"],["2008","620644"]]
Anagrams for captain »
capitan
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of captain in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of captain in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
Examples of captain in a Sentence
During that meeting, Captain Whitney wanted all supervisors to inspect their subordinates' uniforms and collect badges.
It is undeniable that vaping companies are deliberately using flavors like bubblegum, Captain Crunch and cotton candy to get young people hooked on e-cigarettes - it's a public health crisis and it ends today.
I think I've done a lot for the tour through all these years and it's a little disappointing not being captain but I feel happy on the other hand for Northern Ireland Darren Clarke because Northern Ireland Darren Clarke will do a very good job, i will be behind you Northern Ireland Darren Clarke, don't worry. All the decisions you're going to make for Ryder Cups will be good.
No one seemed frantic at all, not even the woman who was stung. The flight attendants did a great job, as did the captain.
Major Wiegand and Captain Brannon served our country honorably. We are incredibly grateful for their willingness to put on the uniform and put their lives on the line in order to keep our country safe. Our prayers are with their family and loved ones and the entire Marine community in Yuma during this time.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for captain
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- قبطان, نقيب, قائد المنتخب, طيارArabic
- командвам, водя, капитанBulgarian
- capitàCatalan, Valencian
- kapitán, námořní kapitánCzech
- Kapitän, Kapitän zur See, Hauptmann, Mannschaftskapitän, Stabshauptmann, FlugkapitänGerman
- κυβερνώ, ηγούμαι, καπετάνιος, αρχηγός, σμηναγός, κυβερνήτης, πλοίαρχος, λοχαγόςGreek
- kapitanoEsperanto
- capitanear, capitánSpanish
- کاپیتانPersian
- kapteeni, kommodori, lentokapteeniFinnish
- capitaineFrench
- caiptean, sgiobairScottish Gaelic
- capitánGalician
- סרןHebrew
- kapitány, százados, csapatkapitányHungarian
- ավագArmenian
- kaptenIndonesian
- flugstjóriIcelandic
- capitanoItalian
- 機長, 船長, 大佐, 大尉, キャプテンJapanese
- 대위, 선장, 船長Korean
- kāpeneMāori
- കപ്പിത്താന്Malayalam
- kaptenMalay
- kommandør, kapteinNorwegian
- kapitein, aanvoerderDutch
- kaptein, kommandørNorwegian Nynorsk
- capitaniOccitan
- dowodzić, kapitanPolish
- capitã, capitãoPortuguese
- căpitanRomanian
- капитанRussian
- satnik, satnicaSerbo-Croatian
- kapitánSlovak
- kapétanka, kapétan, stotnik, stotnicaSlovene
- kaptenSwedish
- nahodha, amrisha, unahodhaSwahili
- กัปตันThai
- kapitanTagalog
- YüzbaşıTurkish
- đội trưởngVietnamese
- 隊長Chinese
Get even more translations for captain »
Translation
Find a translation for the captain definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"captain." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 10 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/captain>.
Discuss these captain definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In