capere

Capere is a Latin verb meaning to take, seize, capture, or acquire. It is a foundational verb in classical Latin and serves as the base for many compounds and derivations in Latin and in the study of Romance languages. It belongs to the third conjugation with -io, a mixed -io verb.

The principal parts of capere are capio, capere, cepi, captus. This yields a present active indicative such as capio, capis, capit, capimus, capitis, capiunt. The imperfect is capiebam, capiebas, capiebat, capiebamus, capiebatis, capiebant; the future forms include capiam, capies, capiet, capiemus, capietis, capient. The perfect active uses cepi, cepisti, cepit, cepimus, cepistis, ceperunt, with the corresponding pluperfect ceperam, ceperas, ceperat, ceperamus, ceperatis, ceperant. The supine is captum, and the perfect passive participle is captus, used in passive constructions and in compound tenses.

In usage, capere covers physical taking (to seize or capture), acquiring possession, and more figurative senses such as to take hold of an idea or plan. Classical Latin literature frequently employs capere in both military and everyday contexts. Examples include phrases like Hostes cepit (“He captured the enemies”) and Capio librum (“I take the book”).

Derivatives and influence on English are notable. The Latin capere has yielded English words such as capture and caption, both of which retain the core sense of taking or seizing. The related noun captivus (a captive) and adjectives connected with holding or taking also trace to this root. In scholarly work, capere remains a key reference point for understanding Latin grammar and the development of Romance vocabularies built on the cap- root.