Word of the Day for Wednesday September 21, 2005 capitulate \kuh-PICH-uh-layt\, intransitive verb: To surrender under agreed conditions Just before peace talks on Kosovo are due to resume, the United States and its allies are sending contradictory signals to Belgrade, making it less likely that President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia will capitulate on American terms. --Steven Erlanger, "West's Bosnia Move May Hurt Kosovo Bid," [1]New York Times, March 7, 1999 I am ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names. ----Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Self-Reliance" _________________________________________________________ Capitulate comes from Medieval Latin capitulare, "to draw up in chapters, hence to arrange conditions," from Latin capitula, "chapters." Chapter itself is related. References 1. http://www.nytimes.com/ Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=capitulate