name, noun ·4 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A head man.
2. 2
   One of the four stock characters of commedia dell'arte who typically appropriated the name "captain" for himself but was not one; he was often a blowhard and a swaggerer who could maintain his self-important claims only if none of the locals knew him.

Proper Noun

1. 1
   A surname from Italian.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Italian capitano. Doublet of captain and chieftain.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian Capitano.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.