nounnounverb

il capo

boss

La persona che comanda un gruppo di lavoro o ha il potere di prendere decisioni importanti per gli altri.

Definition & meaning

Capo means:

Boss, leader, or chief: a person in charge of a group or organization.
Head: the head of a person or animal, especially in literary or formal language.
End or extremity: the end of an object, or a cape extending into the sea.
Garment or item: a single piece of clothing or an individual item in a collection.

Grammar & Word origin

Capo is a masculine noun. Its usual plural is capi. When it means “head” in certain fixed expressions or compounds, the plural capi or capi-based forms are generally used; le capofamiglia, for example, can refer to female heads of families.

It comes from Latin caput, meaning “head.” Its senses of leadership and extremity developed from that original meaning.

Synonyms & antonyms

Leader: dirigente emphasizes a managerial role; leader emphasizes influence or leadership.
Head: testa is the ordinary everyday word for the physical head; capo is more formal or literary in this sense.
End: estremità refers specifically to an edge or endpoint.
Antonym for a boss: subordinato means someone under another person’s authority.