Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1537; borrowed from Medieval Latin capitulātus perfect passive participle of Medieval Latin capitulō (“(originally; of a book, text) to draw up under distinct headings; (from the 15ᵗʰ c.) to bargain, parley, convene”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from capitulum (“heading, chapter, title”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), diminutive of caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
1
To surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply.
He argued and hollered for so long that I finally capitulated just to make him stop.
The Irish, after holding out a week, capitulated.1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XIV, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
2 more examples
BEFORE school rocketed into his tiny world with about as much warning as a sputnik, my son knew only little hates. I knew he had got himself a bigger one when he said to me after his first day there: “School, I HATE IT!” He’s been hating it solidly ever since . . . for all of ten weeks. If I was school . . . I’d capitulate tomorrow. I’d bonfire the books, drain the inkwells and bust up the blackboard — if only he would stop hating. It’s wearing me out!1957 November 14, Sputnik [pseudonym], “My Son Hates School”, in Daily Record, number 19,357, Glasgow: Scottish Daily Record and Sunday Mail, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 2, columns 2–3:
The CCP has refused to capitulate to Trump’s demands to come to the table and renegotiate their terms of trade.2025 April 16, Helen Davidson, “Chinese state media tells Trump to ‘stop whining’ as trade war spirals”, in the Guardian:
2
Ambitransitive, Obsolete To draw up in chapters, heads or articles; to enumerate, specify.
The lawes […] which we capitulate at sea […] are not used on lande.1593, Thomas Lodge, Life and Death of William Longbeard:
The places of serpents abode being thus generally capitulated.1608, Edward Topsell, Serpents:
3
Obsolete To draw up articles of agreement with; to propose terms, treat, bargain, parley.
there capitulates with the king […] to take to wife his daughter Mary1661, Peter Heylin, Ecclesia restaurata:
4
Obsolete To make conditions, stipulate, agree, formulate, conclude (upon something).
Etymology The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1537; borrowed from Medieval Latin capitulātus perfect passive participle of Medieval Latin capitulō (“(originally; of a book, text) to draw up under distinct headings; (from the 15ᵗʰ c.) to bargain, parley, convene”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from capitulum (“heading, chapter, title”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), diminutive of caput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.
1
Obsolete, As a participle Capitulated: agreed upon, convened, settled on, stipulated.
It was capitulate and convenanted, that […] the river Himera, […]1600, Philemon Holland, A translation of Livy's Ab Urbe Condita, XXIV. VI. 512:
2
Obsolete, As a participle Reduced to heads, laid down under a certain number of heads or items.
3
Biology, Botany, Natural sciences Having or forming a capitulum.
The aggregation of flowers into capitulate inflorescences is a character directly advantageous from the aspect of the biological function of cross-pollination.1912, New Phytologist: