Caput
noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The head.
- 2 the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains wordnet
- 3 A knob-like protuberance or capitulum.
- 4 a headlike protuberance on an organ or structure wordnet
- 5 The top or superior part of a thing.
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- 6 The council or ruling body of the University of Cambridge prior to the constitution of 1856. UK
"D. has been engaged, he tells me, through a course of laborious years, in an investigation into all curious matter connected with the two Universities; and has lately lit upon a MS. collection of charters, relative to C⸺, by which he hopes to settle some disputed points—particularly that long controversy between them as to priority of foundation. The ardor with which he engages in these liberal pursuits, I am afraid, has not met with all the encouragement it deserved, either here, or at C⸺. Your caputs, and heads of colleges, care less than any body else about these questions."
- 7 Ellipsis of caput succedaneum. abbreviation, alt-of, colloquial, ellipsis
Example
More examples"The history of some words is a real masterpiece. For instance, kaput. The original word was the Latin "caput" - "a head"; and the way from "a head" to "the end of everything" is rather long."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin caput (“the head”). Doublet of cape, capo, chef, and chief, and distantly of head and Howth.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.