captain

1 of 2

noun

cap·​tain ˈkap-tən How to pronounce captain (audio)
 also  ˈkap-ᵊm
1
a(1)
: a military leader : the commander of a unit or a body of troops
(2)
: a subordinate officer commanding under a sovereign or general
(3)
: a commissioned officer in the army, air force, or marine corps ranking above a first lieutenant and below a major
b(1)
: a naval officer who is master or commander of a ship
(2)
: a commissioned officer in the navy ranking above a commander and below a commodore and in the coast guard ranking above a commander and below a rear admiral
c
: a senior pilot who commands the crew of an airplane
d
: an officer in a police department or fire department in charge of a unit (such as a precinct or company) and usually ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief
2
: one who leads or supervises: such as
a
: a leader of a sports team or side
c
: a person in charge of hotel bellhops

called also bell captain

3
: a person of importance or influence in a field
captains of industry
captaincy noun
captainship noun

captain

2 of 2

verb

captained; captaining; captains

transitive verb

: to be captain of : lead
captained the football team

Examples of captain in a Sentence

Noun The captain has turned off the “fasten seat belt” sign. the captain is responsible for everything that happens to his ship in the course of a voyage Verb The ship was captained by John Smith. She captained last year's team.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Aiden, the captain of the college hockey team only confirms her distaste for the sport. Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 18 Oct. 2024 The two juvenile suspects in the shooting were arrested earlier this week at a park in South L.A., said Smith, the patrol captain at 77th Street Division. Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2024
Verb
The University of Chicago commit did it all while captaining a perennial powerhouse that continued its run as one of the nation’s top programs. Aaron Credeur, Washington Post, 20 June 2024 Miyata, who won bronze on the balance beam at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, was due to captain Japan’s women’s team of debut Olympians. Matias Grez, CNN, 22 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for captain 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'captain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English capitane, from Anglo-French capitain, from Late Latin capitaneus, adjective & noun, chief, from Latin capit-, caput head — more at head

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb

1598, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of captain was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near captain

Cite this Entry

“Captain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/captain. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

captain

1 of 2 noun
cap·​tain ˈkap-tən How to pronounce captain (audio)
1
a
: the commanding officer of a military unit
b
: a military commissioned officer with a rank just below that of major
2
a
: the commanding officer of a ship
b
: a naval commissioned officer with a rank just below that of commodore
3
: a fire or police department officer with a rank usually between that of chief and lieutenant
4
a
: the leader of a team or side
b
: a person in charge of several waiters in a restaurant
captaincy noun

captain

2 of 2 verb
: to be captain of
Etymology

Noun

Middle English capitane "military leader," from early French capitain (same meaning), from Latin capitaneus "chief," from caput "head" — related to cadet, capital, chief

More from Merriam-Webster on captain

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