Etymologically
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captura

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [kapˈtuː.ra][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [kapˈtuː.ra][1]

Forms

captūra f (genitive captūrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from ⟨capt-⟩, the participle stem of capiō “to take, seize”, with the suffix -ūra.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Seneca, whom he dates 4 BC–65 AD.[4] The OLD's citations are from Pliny the Elder, of catching animals.[2]

Semantic evolution

Lewis and Short mark it as post-Augustan.[5] It meant the catching of wild animals, birds and fish, as Pliny the Elder's captūra piscium “fishing”, and by metonymy the catch itself, as hunters with their bag.[2][5][6] In Pliny it also meant gain, earnings.[2][6]

Medieval Latin used it for the arrest of a person, a fishery and fishing plant, a bird trap, and the requisition of goods.[7] British Medieval Latin used it for the taking of dues.[8] It survives in Italian cattura and Spanish and Portuguese captura, and through French capture it gave English capture in the 1540s.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it.[4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of catching fish and of gain.[2][4]
  • 1540s – English capture is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The catching of animals, birds or fish; a catch.[2][5]
  2. Gain, earnings.[2]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Capture, arrest; a fishery; a bird trap.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  8. ^ 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