capitulation

noun

ca·​pit·​u·​la·​tion kə-ˌpi-chə-ˈlā-shən 

1

: a set of terms or articles (see article sense 1c) constituting an agreement between governments

2

a

: the act of surrendering or yielding

the capitulation of the defenders of the besieged town

b

: the terms of surrender

Synonyms of capitulation

• surrender
• submission

Examples of capitulation in a Sentence

her sudden capitulation surprised everyone; she usually debated for hours

Recent Examples on the Web

Iran’s Javan Online, a mouthpiece of the country’s clerical army, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has depicted the agreement as nothing short of an Armenian capitulation to Azerbaijan’s demands. —Ilan Berman, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 Nov. 2025

The move was met with widespread criticism from inside the Democratic Party, which considered the move a capitulation. —Fernando Cervantes Jr, USA Today, 12 Nov. 2025

America’s pattern of naïveté and capitulation reached its nadir under Obama, who blamed Russian aggression on Bush and NATO expansion. —Kathleen Collins, Twin Cities, 26 Oct. 2025

The other important point when thinking about the capitulation of corporate media ownership is that, in the past, these organizations were important in terms of their ability to influence public debate and public sentiment. —David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French capitulacion "division into parts, treaty, convention," borrowed from Medieval Latin capitulātiōn-, capitulātiō "dividing into chapters, drawing up heads of agreement" (Late Latin, "listing of subject headings"), from capitulum "heading or division of a document, chapter" + Latin -ātiōn-, -ātiō -ation

Note: The Latin noun is probably in part back-derived from rēcapitulātiō—see recapitulate. For sense development see note at capitulate.

First Known Use

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for capitulation

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration