cap'nn.
/ˈkap(ə)n/ colloquial (chiefly U.S.).
= captain n., esp. as a title or term of address.
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society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun] > for a captain
cap'n1829
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer by rank > [noun] > captain
captain1567
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cap'n1829
1679 in Rec. Colony Rhode Island (1858) III. 30 Voted,..that Capt'n Samuell Gorton and Mr. Caleb Carr shall open the proxies.]
1829 Yankee Apr. 120/3 Cap'n Jessamine had got kicked out o' bed by his wife.
1866 ‘F. Kirkland’ Pictorial Bk. Anecd. v. 408/2 I pulled my hat over my eyes and jogged along on the Cap'ns horse.
1904 J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Eri xviii. 329 Cap'n Jonadab Wixon used to swear that his grandfather told him 'bout a gale that blew the hair all off a dog.
1936 H. Preece in Crisis Dec. 374/1 The traditional ‘Cap'n’, will become the capitalist.
1949 Sun (Baltimore) 26 Aug. 10/3 Whenever travelers enter Baltimore from abroad by ship or air, they are given the onceover by Cap'n Jenks.
1972 G. S. Holt in T. Kochman Rappin' & Stylin' Out 157 The ex-private was elevated to ‘cap'n’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1829