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Captain

 - 4 dictionary results

cap⋅tain

  [kap-tuhn, -tin]
Use Captain in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person who is at the head of or in authority over others; chief; leader.
2. an officer ranking in most armies above a first lieutenant and below a major.
3. an officer in the U.S. Navy ranking above a commander and below a rear admiral or a commodore.
4. a military leader.
5. an officer in the police department, ranking above a lieutenant and usually below an inspector.
6. an officer of the fire department, usually in command of a company, ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief or assistant chief.
7. the commander of a merchant vessel. Compare staff captain.
8. the pilot of an airplane.
9. a local official in a political party responsible for organizing votes on a ward or precinct level.
10. Sports. the field leader of a team: The captain of the home team elected to receive on the kickoff.
11. a person of great power and influence, esp. based on economic wealth.
12. headwaiter.
13. bell captain.
14. South Midland and Southern U.S. an unofficial title of respect for a man (sometimes used humorously or ironically).
–verb (used with object)
15. to lead or command as a captain.
Origin:
1325–75; ME capitain < AF capitain, captayn < LL capitāneus chief, equiv. to capit- (s. of caput) head + -ān(us) -an + -eus -eous
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cap·tain   (kāp'tən)   
n.  

  1. Abbr. Capt. One who commands, leads, or guides others, especially:

    1. The officer in command of a ship, an aircraft, or a spacecraft.

    2. A precinct commander in a police or fire department, usually ranking above a lieutenant and below a chief.

    3. The designated leader of a team or crew in sports.

    4. Abbr. CPT or Capt or CAPT or Capt. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above first lieutenant and below major.

    5. Abbr. CAPT or Capt. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard that is above commander and below commodore.

    6. One who holds the rank of captain.

    7. A district official for a political party.

    8. A restaurant employee who is in charge of the waiters and usually attends to table seating.

    9. A bell captain.

    1. Abbr. CPT or Capt or CAPT or Capt. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps that is above first lieutenant and below major.

    2. Abbr. CAPT or Capt. A commissioned rank in the U.S. Navy or Coast Guard that is above commander and below commodore.

    3. One who holds the rank of captain.

    4. A district official for a political party.

    5. A restaurant employee who is in charge of the waiters and usually attends to table seating.

    6. A bell captain.

  3. A figure in the forefront; a leader: a captain of industry.

  4. One who supervises or directs the work of others, especially:

    1. A district official for a political party.

    2. A restaurant employee who is in charge of the waiters and usually attends to table seating.

    3. A bell captain.

tr.v.   cap·tained, cap·tain·ing, cap·tains
To act as captain of; command or direct: captained the football team.

[Middle English capitain, from Old French, from Late Latin capitāneus, chief, from Latin caput, capit-, head; see kaput- in Indo-European roots.]
cap'tain·cy, cap'tain·ship' n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

captain 
1375, "one who stands at the head of others," from O.Fr. capitaine, from L.L. capitaneus "chief," n. use of adj. capitaneus "prominent, chief," from L. caput (gen. capitis) "head" (see head). Military sense of "officer who commands a company" (rank between major and lieutenant) is from 1567; naval sense of "officer who commands a man-of-war" is from 1554, extended to "master or commander of a vessel of any kind" by 1704. Sporting sense is first recorded 1823.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Captain

(1.) Heb. sar (1 Sam. 22:2; 2 Sam. 23:19). Rendered "chief," Gen. 40:2; 41:9; rendered also "prince," Dan. 1:7; "ruler," Judg. 9:30; "governor,' 1 Kings 22:26. This same Hebrew word denotes a military captain (Ex. 18:21; 2 Kings 1:9; Deut. 1:15; 1 Sam. 18:13, etc.), the "captain of the body-guard" (Gen. 37:36; 39:1; 41:10; Jer. 40:1), or, as the word may be rendered, "chief of the executioners" (marg.). The officers of the king's body-guard frequently acted as executioners. Nebuzar-adan (Jer. 39:13) and Arioch (Dan. 2:14) held this office in Babylon. The "captain of the guard" mentioned in Acts 28:16 was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops. (2.) Another word (Heb. katsin) so translated denotes sometimes a military (Josh. 10:24; Judg. 11:6, 11; Isa. 22:3 "rulers;" Dan. 11:18) and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate, Arab. _kady_, (Isa. 1:10; 3:6; Micah 3:1, 9). (3.) It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word (shalish) meaning "a third man," or "one of three." The LXX. render in plural by _tristatai_; i.e., "soldiers fighting from chariots," so called because each war-chariot contained three men, one of whom acted as charioteer while the other two fought (Ex. 14:7; 15:4; 1 Kings 9:22; comp. 2 Kings 9:25). This word is used also to denote the king's body-guard (2 Kings 10:25; 1 Chr. 12:18; 2 Chr. 11:11) or aides-de-camp. (4.) The "captain of the temple" mentioned in Acts 4:1 and 5:24 was not a military officer, but superintendent of the guard of priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night. (Comp. "the ruler of the house of God," 1 Chr. 9:11; 2 Chr. 31:13; Neh. 11:11.) (5.) The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord (Heb. 2:10), because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of his people, whom he is conducting to glory. The "captain of the Lord's host" (Josh. 5:14, 15) is the name given to that mysterious person who manifested himself to Abraham (Gen. 12:7), and to Moses in the bush (Ex. 3:2, 6, etc.) the Angel of the covenant. (See ANGEL.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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