an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Origin: 1325–75; Middle English capitain < Anglo-French capitain, captayn < Late Latin capitāneus chief, equivalent to capit- (stem of caput) head + -ān(us) -an + -eus-eous
late 14c., "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 1560s; naval sense of "officer who commands a man-of-war" is from 1550s, extended to "master or commander of a vessel of any kind" by 1704. Sporting sense is first recorded 1823.