Definition of CAPTAIN (original) (raw)
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
Synonyms
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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The suit alleges that the department’s captains moved him in retaliation for speaking up against Barnett’s homophobic comments. —
Jireh Deng, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2024 Flintoff first made his cricket debut in 1998 and soon after became a vital player for England, later serving as captain and vice-captain of the team. —Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Nov. 2024
This was Portnoy's third, and possibly last time captaining a boat. —Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 17 July 2024 Jimmy Just Augustin, who captains the competition’s Kator Blind Football Club, had never even heard of blind soccer before he was introduced to it. —Sam Joseph, CNN, 29 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for captain 
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 17 Nov. 2024.
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Last Updated: 14 Nov 2024 - Updated example sentences
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