LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
verbfirst conjugation

captō

captō (present infinitive captāre, perfect active captāvī, supine captātum)
Classical[ˈkap.toː]Ecclesiastical[ˈkap.to]

Meaning

  1. to strive to seize, catch or grasp at
  2. broadlyto strive to see or hear
  3. figurativelyto seek, aim at

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

hērēditātēs aucupor
captō -āre (hōc locō) — in Epistulae, ch. 13

Conjugation conjugation 1

active indicative
formpresentimperfectfutureperfectpluperfectfut. perfect
1st sg.captōcaptābamcaptābōcaptāvīcaptāveramcaptāverō
captārō
2nd sg.captāscaptābāscaptābiscaptāvistī
captāstī		captāverās
captārās		captāveris
3rd sg.captatcaptābatcaptābitcaptāvitcaptāverat
captārat		captāverit
captārit
1st pl.captāmuscaptābāmuscaptābimuscaptāvimuscaptāverāmuscaptāverimus
captārimus
2nd pl.captātiscaptābātiscaptābitiscaptāvistis
captāstis		captāverātis
captārātis		captāveritis
captāritis
3rd pl.captantcaptābantcaptābuntcaptāvērunt
captāvēre, captārunt		captāverant
captārant		captāverint
captārint
active subjunctive
active subjunctive
formpresentimperfectperfectpluperfect
1st sg.captemcaptāremcaptāverim
captārim		captāvissem
captāssem
2nd sg.captēscaptārēscaptāverīscaptāvissēs
captāssēs
3rd sg.captetcaptāretcaptāverit
captārit		captāvisset
captāsset
1st pl.captēmuscaptārēmuscaptāverīmus
captārīmus		captāvissēmus
captāssēmus
2nd pl.captētiscaptārētiscaptāverītis
captārītis		captāvissētis
captāssētis
3rd pl.captentcaptārentcaptāverint
captārint		captāvissent
captāssent
passive indicative
passive indicative
formpresentimperfectfuture
1st sg.captorcaptābarcaptābor
2nd sg.captāris
captāre		captābāris
captābāre		captāberis
captābere
3rd sg.captāturcaptābāturcaptābitur
1st pl.captāmurcaptābāmurcaptābimur
2nd pl.captāminīcaptābāminīcaptābiminī
3rd pl.captanturcaptābanturcaptābuntur
passive subjunctive
passive subjunctive
formpresentimperfect
1st sg.captercaptārer
2nd sg.captēris
captēre		captārēris
captārēre
3rd sg.captēturcaptārētur
1st pl.captēmurcaptārēmur
2nd pl.captēminīcaptārēminī
3rd pl.captenturcaptārentur
imperative
imperative
formactivepassive
pres. 2nd sg.captācaptāre
pres. 2nd pl.captātecaptāminī
fut. 2nd sg.captātōcaptātor
fut. 3rd sg.captātōcaptātor
fut. 2nd pl.captātōte—
fut. 3rd pl.captantōcaptantor
infinitives & participles
infinitives & participles
formactivepassive
present infinitivecaptārecaptārī
perfect infinitivecaptāvisse
captāsse		captātum esse
future infinitivecaptātūrum essecaptātum īrī
present participlecaptāns—
perfect participle—captātus
captāta, captātā, captātae, captātam, captātārum, captātās, captātī, captātōrum, captātōs
future participlecaptātūrus
captātūra, captātūrā, captātūrae, captātūram, captātūrārum, captātūrās, captātūre, captātūrī, captātūrīs, captātūrō, captātūrōrum, captātūrōs, captātūrum		captandus
captanda, captandā, captandae, captandam, captandārum, captandās, captande, captandīs, captandōrum, captandōs
gerundcaptandī, captandō, captandumsupinecaptātum, captātū

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

risum captare
to try and raise a laugh.
auram popularem captare (Liv. 3. 33)
to court popularity.

capto, āvi, ātum, 1,
I. v. freq. act. [capio].
I. Prop., to strive to seize, lay hold of a thing with zeal, longing, etc., to catch at, snatch, chase, etc.: (syn. aucupor, venor): Tantalus a labris sitiens fugientia captat Flumina, Hor. S. 1, 1, 68; so id. ib. 1, 2, 108; Ov. M. 3, 432; 10, 42; cf.: aquam hianti ore, Curt. 4, 16, 12; and: imbrem ore hianti, id. 4, 7, 14: laqueo volucres, harundine pisces, Tib. 2, 6, 23; Verg. G. 1, 139; Hor. Epod. 2, 36; Ov. M. 8, 217; cf.: (meretrices) occurrebant amatoribus: Eos captabant, Plaut. Ep. 2, 2, 31: muscas, Suet. Dom. 3: modo cervicem, modo crura, Ov. M. 9, 37: collum, id. ib. 3, 428: patulis naribus auras, Verg. G. 1, 376; Ov. M. 7, 557; 4, 72: plumas ore, id. ib. 8, 198: umbras et frigora, Verg. E. 2, 8; cf. id. ib. 1, 53: auribus aëra, to catch the breeze, id. A. 3, 514: captata Hesperie, watched, sought for, Ov. M. 11, 768.—
II. Figuratively.
A. In gen., to strive after, long for, desire earnestly, try or seek to obtain (syn.: consector, appeto, aucupor; class.): sermonem, to watch, listen to, Plaut. Cas. 2, 8, 8; cf. Ter. Phorm. 5, 6, 29: sonitum aure admota, Liv. 38, 7, 8; solitudines, Cic. Tusc. 3, 26, 63: quid consili, to adopt, Plaut. As. 2, 2, 91; Ter. And. 1, 1, 143; 2, 4, 1: assensiones alicujus, Cic. Inv. 1, 31, 51: plausus, to covet, id. Pis. 25, 60: misericordiam, id. Phil. 2, 34, 86; id. Inv. 1, 55, 106: voluptatem, id. Fin. 1, 7, 24 (opp. praeterire): risus, to provoke, strive to excite, id. Tusc. 2, 7, 17; Quint. 6, 3, 26; Phaedr. 1, 29, 1: favorem, Quint. 6, 1, 25; Suet. Tib. 57: nomen imperatorium, D. Brut. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 4: incerta pro certis, Sall. C. 20, 2; cf.: nubes et inania, Hor. A. P. 230: libertatis auram, Liv. 3, 37, 1; cf.: auram incertae famae, Curt. 4, 5, 8: occasionem, to watch for, Liv. 38, 44, 3; Suet. Caes. 7: tempus rei, Quint. 4, 2, 70; Liv. 4, 36, 3: tempestates, id. 5, 6, 4: brevitatem, Quint. 10, 1, 32: elegantiam actoris, id. 11, 3, 184: leporem propositionum ac partitionum, id. 11, 1, 53: solas sententias multas, id. 8, 5, 30: auctoritatem contemptu ceterorum, id. 12, 3, 12; 9, 2, 98; cf. id. 11, 3, 142: vox non captata, sed velut oblata, id. 9, 3, 73. —With inf. as object: prendique et prendere captans, Ov. M. 10, 58: laedere aliquem, Phaedr. 4, 8, 6: opprimere, id. 5, 3, 2: acquirere voluptates, Col. 8, 11, 1.— With a clause as object: cum, an marem editura esset variis captaret (i. e. magno studio quaereret) ominibus, Suet. Tib. 14.—
B. In partic.
1. (Acc. to capio, II. 2.) To seek to catch or take one in a crafty manner, to lie in wait for, seek to entrap, to entice, allure (constr. quem, quod, quem cujus rei, cum quo, inter se, or absol.): magnum hoc vitium vino'st: Pedes captat primum, luctator dolosu'st, Plaut. Ps. 5, 1, 6; cf. captatio: quā viā te captent, eādem ipsos capi? Ter. Hec. 1, 1, 16: tu si me impudicitiae captas, capere non potes, Plaut. Am. 2, 2, 189; 1, 1, 266; 2, 2, 163; id. Men. 4, 2, 83: astutemihi captandum'st cum illoc, id. Most. 5, 1, 21: quid ad illum qui te captare vult, utrum tacentem irretiat te an loquentem? Cic. Ac. 2, 29, 94: est quiddam quod suā vi nos adliciat ad sese, non emolumento captans aliquo, sed trahens suā dignitate, id. Inv. 2, 52, 157: hostem insidiis, Liv. 2, 50, 3: inter se, id. 44, 24, 8; 44, 25, 12: verba (to interpret sophistically; cf. captio), Dig. 10, 4, 19.—Absol.: contra est eundum cautim et captandum mihi, Att. ap. Non. p. 512, 12; p. 512, 50: in colloquiis insidiari et captare, Liv. 32, 33, 11 ( = captionibus uti, studere fallere).—Hence,
2. A standing expression, to practise legacy - hunting, to hunt for legacies (aliquem or aliquod): testamenta senum, Hor. S. 2, 5, 23; cf. hereditatem, Dig. 29, 6, 1: homines, Petr. 116, 6; Mart. 6, 63; Plin. Ep. 2, 20, 7; 4, 2, 2; Juv. 16, 56 al.; cf. captator and captatorius.—
3. To take up, begin, of discourse: ubi captato sermone diuque loquendo ad nomen venere Jovis, Ov. M. 3, 279.

Origins

From capiō (“take, capture”) + -tō. See captus. Compare Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō).

Elsewhere
  • Catalancaptar
  • Frenchcapter
  • Italiancaptare
  • Occitancaptar
  • Portuguesecaptar
  • Romaniancapta
  • Spanishcaptar
  • Dutchcapteren
  • Galiciancaptar
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianacatare
  • Sardinianagatare
Balkano-Romance
  • Romaniancăuta
  • Romaniancăta
  • Aromaniancaftu
Vulgar Latin
  • Italianscattarefrom unknown *excaptāre
  • Italianricattarefrom unknown *recaptāre
  • unknown*accaptāre
  • unknown*captiāre
  • unknown*reexcaptāre
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italiancattare
  • Dalmatiancaturfrom Venetan catar
Rhaeto-Romance
  • Friuliancjatâ
  • Romanshchattar
  • Romanshcattar
  • Romanshcatar
  • Romanshchatter
Gallo-Italic
  • Emiliancater
  • Lombardcatà

Quick answers

What does captō mean in Latin?
captō, a verb, means “to strive to seize, catch or grasp at; to seek, aim at”.
What are the principal parts of captō?
captō, captāre, captāvī, captātum (first conjugation).
How do you pronounce captō?
In classical Latin, [ˈkap.toː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈkap.to].