Captured

How to spell captured

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce captured

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does captured mean?

1. verbTook someone or something into custody, control, or possession by force or skill.

Captured in a sentence

• The police captured the suspect after a brief chase.

• Her photograph captured the exact moment the runner crossed the line.

Where does captured come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin verb capere, which literally meant 'to take' or 'to seize'. From its past participle captus came captura, a noun meaning 'a taking' or 'a catch', especially the act of seizing prey or prisoners. This passed into Old French as capture and was borrowed into English in the late 1400s, at first as a noun for the act of taking someone or something by force. The verb 'to capture', from which 'captured' is formed, appears a little later in the 1500s. The same capere root is hidden inside a whole family of English words such as 'captive', 'capable', 'caption' and 'receive', which explains why the spelling keeps the slightly awkward -ture ending rather than the simpler sound it makes when spoken.

How the word is built

• capt- (from Latin capere: to take, seize)
• -ure (noun/action suffix)
• -ed (past tense)