Captain
Captain and Chief officer are overlapping terms, formal or informal, for the commander of a military unit, the commander of a ship, airplane, spacecraft, or other vessel, or the commander of a port, fire department or police department, election precinct, etc. Captain is a military rank in armies, navies, coast guards, etc., typically at the level of an officer commanding a company of infantry, a ship, or a battery of artillery, or similar distinct unit. Chief officer may be used interchangeably with captain in some situations, as when a Captain-ranked Navy officer is serving as the commander of a ship. The terms also may be used as an informal or honorary title for persons in similar commanding roles. In mining (esp. Cornish), it is an honorific given the superintendent or manager of a mine.
The term "captain" derives from katepánō (Greek: κατεπάνω, lit. "[the one] placed at the top", or " the topmost") which was used as title for a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as capetanus/catepan, and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the Italian "capitaneus" (which derives from the Latin word "caput", meaning head). This hybridized term gave rise to the English language term captain and its equivalents in other languages (Capitan, Capitano, Capitão, Kapitan, Kapitän, Kapitein, Kapteeni, Kapten, Kapudan Pasha, etc.)
Occupations or roles
- Captain (armed forces), a commissioned officer rank corresponding to the field commander of a company of soldiers usually, or that of a battalion or an artillery battery;
- Captain (nautical), senior person or officer usually and lawfully in command of a ship or another type of vessel. See Chief Mate.
- Captain (airlines), senior person or officer usually and lawfully in charge of an aircraft
- Fire captain, officer in a fire department
- Police captain, officer in a police organization
- Captain of industry, business leader
- Captain of the Port, harbour (UK) or Coast Guard (USA) post
- Precinct captain, political party's representative at an election precinct
- School captain, student elected or appointed to represent the school
- The title of a chieftain in traditional Cretan society, as used by Nikos Kazantzakis in his novel Captain Michalis
- Captain Regent, head of state of San Marino
- Captain-major, colonial officer of a Portuguese possession
- Captain-commandant, a Belgian military rank
- The chieftain (Captein) of the Oorlam people in 19th-century South Africa
- In Ottoman-ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina (Kapetan), the equivalent of a city mayor and/or sheriff (see Bosnian uprising)
- Katepano, a senior Byzantine officer (and word from which "captain" derived)
- Kapudan Pasha
- Kapitan Cina
- Captal, a regional title in Southern France
- A rank in the Salvation Army
In business as a corporate title, types of "chief officer" include (or "chief officer" may refer to):
- Chief executive officer
- Chief operating officer
- Chief information officer
- Chief technical officer
- Chief accounting officer
- Chief administrative officer
- Chief analytics officer
- Chief channel officer
- Chief compliance officer
- Chief communications officer
- Chief Customer Officer
- Chief data officer
- Chief financial officer
- Chief governance officer
- Chief information security officer
- Chief knowledge officer
- Chief learning officer
- Chief legal officer
- Chief marketing officer
- Chief networking officer
- Chief operating officer
- Chief process officer
- Chief procurement officer
- Chief risk officer
- Chief science officer
- Chief strategy officer
- Chief sustainability officer
- Chief Technology Officer
- Chief visionary officer
In education:
- Chief Academic Officer
- Chief Advancement Officer
- Chief Business Officer
In government:
- Chief Dental Officer (disambiguation)
- Chief District Officer
- Chief Electoral Officer (disambiguation)
- Chief Fire Officer
- Chief Firearms Officer
- Chief Medical Officer (disambiguation)
- Chief police officer
- Chief Veterinary Officer
Military ranks
- NATO OF-5 / US O-6
- Captain (naval)
- Captain at Sea
- Captain of Sea and War
- Captain (Canadian naval rank)
- Captain (Royal Navy) (British)
- Captain (United States O-6)
- NATO OF-2 / US O-3
- Germany
- United Kingdom
Captain is a rank in the British Armed Forces used by two separate rank grades:
- Captain (Royal Navy), NATO OF-5 grade
- Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), NATO OF-2 grade
- Generic
- Captain (United States)
- other captain grades
- Ship-of-the-line captain
- Senior Captain
- Staff captain
- Group captain, a senior Air Force rank (generally in Britain and Commonwealth countries)
In the military, "chief officer" may refer to certain non-commissioned members:
Chief officer may refer to marine occupation:
See also
- Captain (sports)
- Chief executive officer
- Captain (disambiguation)
- Capitaine (disambiguation)
- Capitan (disambiguation)
- El Capitan (disambiguation), Spanish for "The Captain"
- Kapitan (disambiguation)