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capita

 [kap-i-tuh]   Origin

ca·pi·ta

   [kap-i-tuh]
noun
plural of caput.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

ca·put

   [key-puht, kap-uht]
noun, plural ca·pi·ta  [kap-i-tuh] . Anatomy.
any head or headlike expansion on a structure, as on a bone.
Origin:
1640–50; < Latin: head

per cap·i·ta

   [per kap-i-tuh]
noun
1.
by or for each individual person: income per capita.
2.
Law. noting or pertaining to a method of dividing an estate by which all those equally related to the decedent take equal shares individually without regard to the number of lines of descent.
Compare per stirpes.

Origin:
1675–85; < Latin: literally, by heads

Can be confused: per annum, per capita, per diem.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
capita (ˈkæpɪtə)
 
—n
1.  See per capita
2.  anatomy the plural of caput

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

per capita
1682, from L., lit. "by the head," from per (see per) + capita "head" (see capital).
EXPAND

caput
"head," in various senses, from L. caput (see head).
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

caput cap·ut (kāp'&oobreve;t, -ət)
n. pl. cap·i·ta (kāp'ĭ-tə)
The head.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
per capita [(puhr kap-i-tuh)]

A Latin phrase literally meaning “by heads,” and translated as “for each person.” It is a common unit for expressing data in statistics. A country's per capita personal income, for example, is the average personal income per person.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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