captain

CEFRA2

/ˈkæp.tɪn/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The leader of a ship, sports team, or group.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    An army officer with a rank between the most senior grade of lieutenant and major.

Examples

  • The captain will go to the meteorological office to get a weather briefing.

  • We cheered for him and chose him as our captain.

At a glance

Sits at A2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [ˈkæpm̩]
  • [ˈkæpn̩]

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The person lawfully in command of a ship or other vessel.

  2. A chief or leader.

  3. A naval officer with a rank between commander and commodore.

More examples

In context

  • The captain is the last man to leave a sinking ship.

  • John Henry said to the captain, "A man ain't nothing but a man."

  • 1977, Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey, lyricists, "Hotel California", So I called up the Captain, "Please bring me my wine." / He said: "We haven't had that spirit here since 1969."

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The team's blank gave a motivational speech before the championship match.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English capitain, capteyn, from Old French capitaine, from Late Latin capitāneus, from Latin caput (“head”) (English cap). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Doublet of chieftain, also from Old French.