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

Paramount’s leaders seemed caught off guard by Netflix’s capitulation, just like everyone else; thus, the company hasn’t commented yet on its victory, or telegraphed its intentions for CNN. —Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 27 Feb. 2026

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican who is running for insurance secretary, released a statement shortly after Kelly’s announcement framing the news as a capitulation. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 27 Feb. 2026

Kaplan, the Anthropic executive and co-founder, denied the company’s decision to change course was a capitulation to market incentives as the race for superintelligence accelerates. —Billy Perrigo, Time, 24 Feb. 2026

The next drawdown from 2021 through late 2022 forced the stock to undercut its COVID low, marking a final capitulation phase before the current rebuilding process began. —Frank Cappelleri, CNBC, 18 Feb. 2026

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