post-captain
post-captain noun: a captain of the 18th or 19th-century Royal Navy in command of a vessel, with his subsequent promotions almost always determined by seniority rather than merit or ability.
Noun
post-captain (plural post-captains)
- A captain of the 18th or 19th-century Royal Navy in command of a vessel, with his subsequent promotions almost always determined by seniority rather than merit or ability.
- The general principle which governs the navies of the old world is... when the Post is attained, then promotion is by inheritance... If a Post Captain in the English navy lives long enough, he is certain of being an Admiral, though not before he is sixty years of age... Hence it is manifest that...1836 March 17, 'Candor', "The Navy", Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. II, No. 11, p. 173
Forms of post-captain
| plural | post-captains |
|---|---|
| alternative form | post captain |
| alternative form | postcaptain |
Origin of post-captain
From both the action of taking or making post (“occupying an established military position”) and the practice of posting (“publicly announcing”) the names of such officers in the London Gazette.
Questions about post-captain
- What does post-captain mean?
- Post-captain means a captain of the 18th or 19th-century Royal Navy in command of a vessel, with his subsequent promotions almost always determined by seniority rather than merit or ability.
- What part of speech is post-captain?
- Post-captain is a noun.
- What is the plural of post-captain?
- The plural of post-captain is post-captains.
Words near post-captain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: post-captain (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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