capitulate
/kəˈpɪ.tjʊ.leɪt/
"capitulate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“capitulate” is an uncommon English word, ranked #52,836 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #52,836
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | capitulate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kəˈpɪ.tjʊ.leɪt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #52,836 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “capitulate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for capitulate is 10 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəˈpɪ.tjʊ.leɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #52,836 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for capitulate in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1537; borrowed from Medieval Latin capitulātus perfect passive participle of Medieval Latin capitulō (“(originally; of a book, text) to draw up under distinct headings; (from the 15ᵗʰ c.) to bargain, parl… The correct English form is capitulate, spelled C-A-P-I-T-U-L-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply.
- 2To draw up in chapters, heads or articles; to enumerate, specify.
- 3To draw up articles of agreement with; to propose terms, treat, bargain, parley.
- 4To make conditions, stipulate, agree, formulate, conclude (upon something).
Etymology
The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1537; borrowed from Medieval Latin capitulātus perfect passive participle of Medieval Latin capitulō (“(originally; of a book, text) to draw up under distinct headings; (from the 15ᵗʰ c.) to bargain, parley, convene”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from capitulum (“heading, chapter, title”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), diminutive of caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “capitulate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-P-I-T-U-L-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəˈpɪ.tjʊ.leɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.