[= F. capitain général, Sp. capitan general.] Chief commander of a force; commander-in-chief of an army (obs. in Eng. use). Also the governor of a Spanish province or colony.
1514. Summ. Terouane, in Rel. Ant., I. 317. The Lord Pont Deremy, capeteyn generall.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., II. iii. 279. Honour’d Captaine Generall of the Grecian Armie, Agamemnon.
1708. Proclam., 30 Dec., in Lond. Gaz., No. 4503/1. John Duke of Marlborough, Captain General of our Forces.
1777. Watson, Philip II. (1839), 159. The marquis of Mondejar, captain-general of the province.
1809. Wellington, Lett., in Gurw., Disp., V. 3. Appointing me one of the Captains General of the Spanish armies.
1845. Darwin, Voy. Nat., i. (1876), 3. It is here the governors and captain-generals of the islands have been buried.
