Kapitän

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See also: kapitan and kapitán

German

1. ein Kapitän

Etymology

From Middle High German kapitān, borrowed (13th c.) in the military sense from Old French capitaine (“leader”), from Late Latin capitāneus. The nautical sense (15th c.) follows Italian capitano. The sport sense (early 20th c.) follows English captain.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kapiˈtɛːn/, , ,
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

Kapitän m (strong, genitive Kapitäns or (rare, nonstandard) Kapitänes, plural Kapitäne, feminine Kapitänin)

  1. (nautical, aviation) captain
    Synonyms: (all informal) Käpt'n, Käpten, Kaptein
    • 1915, Else Ury, “Nesthäkchen im Kinderheim”, in Karl-Maria Guth, editor, Nesthäkchen Gesamtausgabe in zwei Bänden. Erster Band, published 2016, page 327:
      Es war Frau Kapitän Clarsen, Annemaries Pensionsmutter.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  2. (military, navy) Short for Kapitän zur See (“captain: high-level officer rank equivalent to an army colonel”).
  3. (other military, obsolete, except in translation of cognate words) captain (medium-level officer rank)
    Synonym: Hauptmann
  4. (sports) captain (player who leads a team and serves as contact person for the referee)
    Synonym: Spielführer

Declension

Declension of Kapitän
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative ein der Kapitän die Kapitäne
genitive eines des Kapitäns, Kapitänes1 der Kapitäne
dative einem dem Kapitän, Kapitäne1,2 den Kapitänen
accusative einen den Kapitän die Kapitäne

1Rare, nonstandard.
2Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

  • “Kapitän” in Duden online
  • “Kapitän” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Plautdietsch

Noun

Kapitän m (plural Kapitäns)

  1. captain
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