Etymologically
Log in

capitulare

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 14:27. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ka.pɪ.tʊˈɫaː.rɛ][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ka.pi.tuˈlaː.re][1]

Forms

capitulāre n (genitive capitulāris); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin capitulum (“small head; chapter”) + -āre, the neuter of an adjective in ⟨-āris⟩ used as a noun.[1][2] Lewis and Short explain the “head tax” as an adjective with ⟨vectigal⟩ “tax” understood, from caput (“head”),[3] and Niermeyer gives the noun as the neuter of capitulāris.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636 AD), who uses it for a head covering.[5][2][6] Lewis and Short cite an inscription in which it means a poll tax.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Gregory of Tours and Gregory the Great it means a document of particular importance, a letter of instructions divided into heads.[7][5] From there it became the word for the capitulary, a document issued by a king, an ordinance in chapters, and for collections of such laws.[4][5][8] A letter of 786 in Alcuin's correspondence describes a capitulare written on each matter in turn.[8]

In church use it named a liturgical handbook, an antiphonary,[4] and a list giving the first and last words of the Epistle and Gospel readings of the Missal.[9] Medieval records also use it for a list of tax assessments and a bill of indictment.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville uses it for a head covering.[2][5]
  • 538/539–594 AD – Gregory of Tours has it of an important written document.[7][5]
  • 786 – A letter among Alcuin's describes a capitulare written point by point.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A head tax, poll tax.[3][1]
  2. (Late Latin) A head covering, hood.[2][6][7][4]
  3. (Late Latin) A document of importance; written instructions divided into heads.[7]
  4. (Medieval Latin) A capitulary, an edict or ordinance of a ruler; a collection of capitularies.[4][5][8]
  5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A liturgical handbook; an antiphonary; a list of the opening and closing words of the Epistles and Gospels.[4][9]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A list of tax assessments; a bill of indictment.[4]

Usage notes

Medieval capitulāre is also the infinitive of the verb capitulāre “to sum up; to agree on terms; to hold a chapter meeting”,[4][8] the source of French capituler.[5] Georges compares the related noun capitulārium.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson