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

Putin continued to believe that Russia could squelch Ukraine’s will to fight and eventually the West would tire of serving as a backstop; Zelensky was ready for compromise but not capitulation. —Joshua Yaffa, New Yorker, 27 Nov. 2025

Breedlove pushed back on the claim that Kyiv is ready to concede territory, saying lawmakers want peace but not capitulation. —Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 27 Nov. 2025

The initial 28-point draft plan that emerged from Witkoff's conversations with Russian officials was criticized by Ukraine and its European allies as tantamount to capitulation to Moscow. —Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025

The plan, as outlined, effectively amounts to a capitulation by Ukraine. —Monica Alba, NBC news, 21 Nov. 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