Kapo

kapo kapò kápo kãpó German de: Alternative forms de Capo Pronunciation de De-Kapo.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>) Etymology 1 de Kaporal Upper German, from de it caporale corporal, from de it capo, from de la-vul capus, from de la caput.Kapo There is some uncertainty about the etymology of the sense "prisoner functionary". Pfeifer connects it to the same etymology as above, however Duden claims an origin in de fr caporal.Kapo_Haeftling In favour of Pfeifer is the fact that the first concentration camp, Dachau, was in Upper German territory and many early inmates came from the workers' movement and trade unions,de Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte Die ersten Häftlinge [The First Prisoners] https://www.hdbg.de/dachau/pdfs/03/03_03/03_03_01.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20250413032931/https://www.hdbg.de/dachau/pdfs/03/03_03/03_03_01.pdf 13 April 2025 who could have introduced the dialectal term de Kapo site foreman construction slang.de Friedrich Kluge Elmar Seebold Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache 24 Walter de Gruyter Berlin; New York 2001 978-3-11-017473-1 469de Bauleiter Polier Deutscher Bauzeiger https://www.deutscher-bauzeiger.de/bauen/bauleitung/polier/bauleiter-polier 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20260119204137/https://www.deutscher-bauzeiger.de/bauen/bauleitung/polier/bauleiter-polier 19 January 2026 Compare also vmf Kapo, gmw-rfr Kapo, gsw Capo, all meaning "foreman". Although plausible, the folk-etymology which assumes a direct loan from it capo boss, chief suggested by occasional spellings de Capo, de Lagercapo and no-doubt reinforced in later times by the Italian term's dissemination in the wake of the Godfather trilogy has not been substantiated. Doublet of de Korporal and obsolete de Kapo military commander. Noun m,,s de military slang en corporal, en non-commissioned officer de Unteroffizier de Southern Germany Austria en foreman de Vorarbeiter Polier de historical prison slang en kapo, en prisoner functionary a prisoner of a Nazi concentration camp who was given food and privileges in return for supervising other prisoners doing forced labor de Funktionshäftling Lagerkapo Lagercapo Declension m,,s Descendants ar كابو 1 hy կապո 1 br kapo 1 ca kapo 1 cs kápo 1 da kapo 1 nl kapo 1 en kapo 1 fa کاپو 1 fi kapo 1 fr kapo 1 gl kapo 1 he קאפו 1 hu kápó 1 ia kapo 1 it kapò 1 nb kapo 1 pl kapo 1 pt kapo 1 ru капо́ 1 sh kapo капо 1 es kapo 1 sv kapo 1 th คาโพ 1 uk ка́по 1 yi קאַפּאָ 1 Etymology 2 de Kantonspolizei. Noun f.sg de Switzerland en cantonal police Cantonal police Declension f.sg Etymology 3 de it capo. Doublet of de Korporal and de Kapo corporal; prisoner-overseer. Noun m.sg de obsolete leader, military commander 17th c. de Oberhaupt Declension m.sg References Further reading Kapo_Haeftling Kapo Kapo_Polizei Kapo de Nazism People