Etymology
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captive (adj.)

late 14c., "made prisoner, enslaved," from Latin captivus "caught, taken prisoner," from captus, past participle of capere "to take, hold, seize" (from PIE root *kap- "to grasp"). Captive audience is from 1849.

captive (n.)

"one who is taken and kept in confinement; one who is completely in the power of another," c. 1400, from noun use of Latin captivus "caught, taken prisoner" (see captive (adj.)). An Old English noun was hæftling, from hæft "taken, seized" (see haft (n.)), which is from the same root.

Entries linking to captive

*kap- 

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grasp."

It forms all or part of: accept; anticipate; anticipation; behave; behoof; behoove; cable; cacciatore; caitiff; capable; capacious; capacity; capias; capiche; capstan; caption; captious; captivate; captive; captor; capture; case (n.2) "receptacle;" catch; catchpoll; cater; chase (n.1) "a hunt;" chase (v.) "to run after, hunt;" chasse; chasseur; conceive; cop (v.) "to seize, catch;" copper (n.2) "policeman;" deceive; emancipate; except; forceps; gaffe; haft; have; hawk (n.); heave; heavy; heft; incapacity; inception; incipient; intercept; intussusception; manciple; municipal; occupy; participation; perceive; precept; prince; purchase; receive; recipe; recover; recuperate; sashay; susceptible.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit kapati "two handfuls;" Greek kaptein "to swallow, gulp down," kope "oar, handle;" Latin capax "able to hold much, broad," capistrum "halter," capere "to grasp, lay hold; be large enough for; comprehend;" Lettish kampiu "seize;" Old Irish cacht "servant-girl," literally "captive;" Welsh caeth "captive, slave;" Gothic haban "have, hold;" Old English hæft "handle," habban "to have, hold."

haft (n.)
Old English hæft "handle," especially of a cutting or thrusting instrument, related to hæft "fetter, bond; captive, slave," via a common notion of "a seizing, a thing seized," from Proto-Germanic *haftjam (source also of Old Saxon haft "captured;" Dutch hecht, Old High German hefti, German Heft "handle;" German Haft "arrest"), from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." To haven other haeftes in hand "have other hafts in hand" was a 14c.-15c. way of saying "have other business to attend to."
caitiff (adj.)
c. 1300, "wicked, base, cowardly," from Old North French caitive "captive, miserable" (Old French chaitif, 12c., Modern French chétif "puny, sickly, poor, weak"), from Latin captivus "caught, taken prisoner," from captus, past participle of capere "to take, hold, seize," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." Its doublet, captive, is a later, scholarly borrowing of the same word. In most Romance languages, it has acquired a pejorative sense (Spanish cautivo, Italian cattivo).

updated on April 17, 2022

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Definitions of captive from WordNet
1
captive (n.)
a person who is confined; especially a prisoner of war;
Synonyms: prisoner
captive (n.)
an animal that is confined;
captive (n.)
a person held in the grip of a strong emotion or passion;
2
captive (adj.)
being in captivity;
Synonyms: confined / imprisoned / jailed
captive (adj.)
giving or marked by complete attention to; "so intent on this fantastic...narrative that she hardly stirred"- Walter de la Mare;
Synonyms: absorbed / engrossed / enwrapped / intent / wrapped
From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near captive

caption

captious

captivate

captivating

captivation

captive

captivity

captor

capture

Capuchin

caput

© 2001-2022 Douglas Harper