The person in charge of a ship, aircraft, sports team, or a unit in the military.
It comes from Old French 'capitain' and Latin 'capitaneus', meaning 'chief' or 'leader', from 'caput', 'head'. The word has long been used for the 'head person' in charge of a group or vehicle.
A captain is literally the 'head' person, from the same root as 'decapitate'. The language quietly reminds you that leadership isn’t just a title—it’s being the thinking, deciding 'head' for everyone else.
Historically, leadership roles like ship captains, military captains, and sports captains were overwhelmingly male, and the term was often implicitly associated with men. Women in these positions were frequently described with marked forms or qualifiers (e.g., 'female captain'), reinforcing the idea of male default leadership.
Use 'captain' as a fully gender-neutral title and avoid unnecessary gender marking unless it is relevant to the context or specifically requested. In narratives or examples, include women and nonbinary people as captains to counter the historical male default.
["leader","commander","skipper"]
Women have long served as ship captains, airline captains, and team captains, often facing institutional barriers and under-recognition. Acknowledging their roles in examples and case studies helps correct the historic erasure of women’s leadership at sea, in the air, and in sports.
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