Definition
A Latin term used in old law and historical land surveys meaning to head, front, or abut — that is, to touch or meet at the head or end of a parcel. When a piece of land is described as capitating to a road, wall, or adjacent parcel, it means the land terminates at or runs up to that boundary at its head end. The term functions as a technical verb of land description, indicating the relationship between the end of one parcel and an adjacent feature or boundary.
Why It Matters in Research
Capitare appears almost exclusively in medieval and early modern conveyancing instruments, survey records, and boundary descriptions written in Latin or Law Latin. Researchers working with pre-modern English land records — particularly manor court rolls, surveys, inquisitions post mortem, and early fee farm grants — will encounter this term as part of the formulaic language used to fix the position and orientation of parcels.
The critical navigational point is that capitare describes orientation at the head or end of a strip or close, as distinct from terms describing lateral adjacency (such as laterare, to lie alongside). A parcel description may use both terms together: one boundary capitating to a road or wall, while the long sides laterare against neighboring holdings. Missing this distinction can cause a researcher to misread which boundary runs perpendicular to a feature and which runs parallel — an error that compounds quickly when reconstructing field systems or resolving title chains.
Because the term is confined to Latin-language records, it drops out of English-language conveyancing as vernacular drafting becomes standard in the post-medieval period. Researchers should not expect to find it in post-1700 instruments.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries agree completely on core meaning. Black's Law Dictionary (both first and second editions) gives the definition in nearly identical language: "to head, front, or abut; to touch at the head, or end." Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the fullest treatment, supplying two illustrative passages drawn from Cowell's Interpreter. The first — "Tenent octo acras juxta Goreswall, capitantes ad prædictum wallum" (they hold eight acres near Goreswall, heading to the said wall) — is a compact example of the word in boundary-description use. The second passage pairs capitare with laterare in a single parcel description, showing precisely how the two verbs work together to fix a parcel's orientation in all directions.
Burrill's citation to Cowell's Interpreter (under the heading "Abbuttals") is the most useful pointer for further research. Cowell's work collects legal Latin and Law French terms from English practice and remains accessible for researchers tracing the vocabulary of historical surveys. No significant divergence exists among the source dictionaries on this term; the only meaningful difference is that Burrill supplies contextual illustration while Black's provides bare definition.
Historical sources do not flag any ambiguity or contested usage for capitare. It appears to have been a stable, technical term of art within its narrow domain.
Jurisdictional Note
Capitare is a term of English legal Latin, rooted in the practice of English land survey and conveyancing. Researchers working with Scottish, Welsh, or Irish records written in Latin may encounter it, but its primary home is English manorial and survey documentation. It has no operative life in American legal practice.