capitulate
/kəˈpɪt͡ʃ.(j)ʊ.leɪt/verb, adjective, noun
capitulate is spelled C-A-P-I-T-U-L-A-T-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,954th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, capitulate means “To surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in capitulate?
| Letters | 10: C-A-P-I-T-U-L-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 52,954th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is capitulate?
Capitulate appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,954th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce capitulate?
- UK /kəˈpɪ.tjʊ.leɪt/
- UK /kəˈpɪ.t͡ʃə.leɪt/
- US /kəˈpɪt͡ʃ.(j)ʊ.leɪt/
As an adjective (“Capitulated: agreed upon, convened, settled on, stipulated”): /kəˈpɪ.tjʊ.lət/, /kəˈpɪ.t͡ʃə.lət/, /kəˈpɪt͡ʃ.(j)ʊ.lət/.
Capitulate has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-capitulate.ogg, En-au-capitulate.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of capitulate
- capitulates present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- capitulating participle, present
- capitulated participle, past
- more capitulate comparative
- most capitulate superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does capitulate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply.
He argued and hollered for so long that I finally capitulated just to make him stop.
- 2
obsoleteTo draw up in chapters, heads or articles; to enumerate, specify.
- 3
obsoleteTo draw up articles of agreement with; to propose terms, treat, bargain, parley.
- 4
obsoleteTo make conditions, stipulate, agree, formulate, conclude (upon something).
adjective
- 1
obsoleteCapitulated: agreed upon, convened, settled on, stipulated.
- 2
obsoleteReduced to heads, laid down under a certain number of heads or items.
- 3
Having or forming a capitulum.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of capitoulate
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Capitulate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense surrender; end all resistance; to give up; to go along with or comply:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | capituler, se rendre |
| German | kapitulieren, sich ergeben |
| Portuguese | capitular |
| Spanish | capitular, rendirse, desalzarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does capitulate come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).