capture

Forms

capture f (plural captures)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin captūra (“a taking, catching”), a noun of action from capiō (“to take, seize”).^[2][3][4][1] In Latin the word also meant a catch in hunting or fishing, and Medieval Latin used it for an arrest from 1064–1065.^[2][3] It is related to capter and captif.^[3][5]

Littré compares Old Occitan captura, Spanish captura and Italian cattura.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1406, in a document from Rouen, in the sense “taking of booty”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “taking of booty” went out of use except for privateers' prizes (the seizure of an enemy ship, 1787) and for seizures by the customs (1740), and the concrete sense “thing taken” followed from it in those fields and in hunting and fishing.^[3][2] From the 16th century the word also meant the arrest of a person by order of justice.^[2][3][6]

Under the influence of capter, it came to mean the catching of a vapour or a gas (1873) and, in geography, the capture of one river by another.^[3][2] Atomic physics uses it for the process by which a particle joins an atom or a nucleus.^[3][7] In computing, capture d'écran is a copy of the image shown on a screen saved as a file.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1406 – First recorded, in the sense “taking of booty”.^[2][3]
• 16th century – Used for an arrest by order of justice.^[2][6]
• 1740 – The Académie records the sense “seizure by the customs”.^[2]
• 1787 – Féraud records the seizure of an enemy ship.^[2]
• 1873 – The Journal officiel uses it for the catching of a vapour or a gas.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of capturing a person or animal, or of being captured: la capture d'un voleur.^[7][9][8]
2. What is captured, a catch or prize: une belle capture.^[7][9][8]
3. The seizure of a ship, or of goods by the customs.^[7][9][2]
4. (geography) The diversion of part of a river into a neighbouring one.^[9][2][10]
5. (physics) The taking up of a particle by an atomic nucleus: capture électronique.^[7]
6. (astronomy) The placing of a body in orbit around a more massive one by its gravitational pull.^[9]
7. (computing) Capture d'écran, capture d'image: a screenshot.^[7][8]

Word family

• capturer

Related words

• capter
• captif
• Latin captūra

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse