Captain (redirected from Capt)

captain

1. the person in charge of and responsible for a vessel

2. the officer in command of a civil aircraft, usually the senior pilot

3. the leader of a team in games

4. US a policeman in charge of a precinct

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Captain 

an officer rank in the army of most states.

The rank (title) of captain appeared for the first time in France, where in the Middle Ages commanders of individual military districts were called captains. After 1558 company commanders were called captains, and higher commanders were called captain generals. In Russia the rank of captain appeared first in the 16th century as a title for foreign officers; in the 17th century it was applied to company commanders in the new type of regiments; in the early 18th century it was introduced throughout the whole regular Russian Army; in the cavalry (except in the dragoons) the rank of rotmistr corresponded to the rank of captain. From 1705 to 1798, there existed also the rank of lieutenant captain, which was later replaced by the rank of staff captain. In 1882 the rank of captain in the dragoon regiments and in the gendarmerie corps was replaced by the rank of rotmistr.

Captain is also an officer rank in the navies of most countries; some countries have the ranks of corvette captain, frigate captain, and captain of the ship. From the early 18th century the Russian Navy had the following captain’s ranks: commander (1707–32, 1751–64, and 1798–1827), captain of the ship (1701–13 and 1732–51), captain first and second class (1713–32 and 1751–1917), captain third class (1713–32), captain fourth class (1713–17), and lieutenant captain (1713–1884 and 1909–11).

In the Soviet armed forces in 1935 the military rank of captain was introduced in the ground forces and in the air force; in the same year the ranks of captain first, second, and third class and lieutenant captain were introduced in the navy.