capitaneus

Latin

Etymology

• From caput (“head”) +‎ -āneus.
• Later absorbed and merged with similar catepanus, capetanus, and other Vulgar Latin renderings of katepano, the senior rank and title of Byzantine military captains of the Catepanate of Italy, from Byzantine Greek κατεπάνω (katepánō, literally “ placed at the top, or the topmost”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ka.piˈtaː.ne.us/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ka.piˈta.ne.us/,

Adjective

capitāneus (feminine capitānea, neuter capitāneum); first/second-declension adjective

1. large, chief in size
2. capital (of letters)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Descendants

Via capitānea f:

Via capitāneum n:

Borrowings

Unsorted borrowings

Noun

capitāneus m (genitive capitāneī, feminine capitānea); second declension

1. captain, commander
2. governor, commandant
3. civic official, prefect
4. tribal chieftain, chief

Declension

Second-declension noun.

References

• “capitaneus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• capitaneus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• capitaneus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.