capisce

• capeesh, capiche, capisch, capische, capishe, coppish, kabish

Unadapted borrowing from the spoken Neapolitan and Sicilian equivalents of either of the following:

• Italian capisce (literally “he, she, etc., understands”), the third-person singular present indicative form;^[1][2] or
• capisci (literally “you understand”) (possibly with the final vowel dropped or reduced in informal speech), the second-person singular present indicative form;

of capire (“to understand”), from Latin capere,^[1][2] the present active infinitive of capiō (“to capture, catch, seize; to comprehend, understand; etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grab, seize; to hold”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəˈpiːʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈpiʃ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːʃ
• Hyphenation: cap‧isce

capisce (chiefly US, slang)

1. Used by a listener to confirm that they have understood something said to them: I got it, I heard you, I understand.
   • 2009, J. Malcolm Garcia, “Encountering Afghanistan”, in The Khaarijee: A Chronicle of Friendship and War in Kabul, Boston, Mass.: Beacon Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Shadows of Home), page 24:

     "I have a niece." / "No children?" / "Not married." / "What is the problem?" / "I'm single. No wife, no kids. No problem." / "Capisce." / "Yeah, capisce."

   • 2014, Lia Riley, “Talia”, in Upside Down (Off the Map; 1), New York, N.Y.: Forever, Hachette Book Group, published May 2015, →ISBN, page 40:

     "It’s simple. Here's the rules: One of us says 'Never Have I Ever' and finishes the sentence. If you've done whatever the thing is, you drink. Yeah?" / "Capisce." I salute and he laughs.

   • 2016 May 10, George S. Naas, Finding True Love at 35,000 Feet: The Saga of Emma and John, Lakewood, Colo.: Golden Publishing Company, →ISBN, pages 110–111:

     "I just want the father to be around. So you have to return home safe. Capisce?" / "Yeah, capisce."

3. (sometimes offensive) Used by a speaker to confirm that the listener has understood something said to the latter: did you hear me?, get it?, understood?
   • 1993, Eric Bogosian, Notes from Underground, New York, N.Y.: Hyperion, →ISBN, Act III, page 138:

     It's very simple, George, you forget about this whole licensing lawsuit pipe dream of yours or you can forget about your buddy working in my factory for the next couple of years. I will be that angry. Capiche?

   • 1995 December 17, Mike Scully, “Marge Be Not Proud” (08:41 from the start), in The Simpsons‎^[1], season 7, episode 11, spoken by Bart Simpson (Nancy Cartwright), New York, N.Y.: Fox Broadcasting Company, Production Code 3F07:

     Detective Brodka: Hey kid, one more thing: if you ever set foot in this store again, you'll be spending Christmas in juvenile hall! Capisce? / Bart: [silently stares in confusion] / Brodka: Well, do you understand? / Bart: Everything except "capisce."

   • 1996 August 31, The Wachowskis, Bound, spoken by Gino Marzzone (Richard Caspar Sarafian), [United States]: Dino de Laurentiis Productions; Spelling Films; PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, →OCLC:

     You gotta start respecting Johnny, the way you respect me. Capisce?

   • 2002, Richard Chiappone, “The Chubs”, in Water of an Undetermined Depth, Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 1:

     I mean, if you were coming into the plant for the long haul, God forbid, then you'd have to think seriously about the money. Capiche?

   • 2005, Jeph Jacques, “All Cards on the Table Please”, in Questionable Content‎^[2], number 459 (webcomic), archived from the original on 5 June 2025:

     That being said, if you hurt my boy I will introduce you to a whole new realm of pain and suffering. We're talking stuff that would make Heironymous Bosch^{[sic – meaning Hieronymous]} shit his britches, capisce?

   • 2020 July 17, Intelligent Systems, Paper Mario: The Origami King‎^[3], Nintendo, via YouTube, level/area: Sea Tower:

     Tape, the Shifty Sticker: And you, origami kid… Be a good goil and run back to Olly. It's past your beddy-bye time, capisce?

Sense 2 (“did you hear me?, get it?”) may be used in a (mock) threatening manner, imitating the way the Italian Mafia is often portrayed in entertainment media and popular culture, and so may be offensive to Southern Italians.

capisce (third-person singular simple present capisces, present participle capiscing, simple past and past participle capisced) (chiefly US, slang)

1. (transitive) To understand (someone or something).
   • 2013, Cindy Callaghan, chapter 12, in Lost in London, New York, N.Y.: Aladdin M!X, →ISBN, page 83:

     "I need at least a B-plus, and no one—I repeat, NO ONE—can know that I didn't write it. This paper is vitally important to my future. Do you capisce what I'm saying to you? Very important." / We grumbled our understanding into the phone. "Yeah, yeah, we capisce," Ellie said.

   • 2014, RoseAnn DeFranco, chapter 5, in The Right Chord (Brothers of Audubon Springs; 3), Adams Basin, N.Y.: The Wild Rose Press, →ISBN:

     "Nothing they say would stop me from thinking you're the greatest, smartest, bravest little girl in the whole world. Do you capisce me?" / "I capisce you," she nodded and her big eyes blinked back tears.

2. (intransitive) To understand.
   • 2020 February, Stephanie Cole, chapter 18, in Al Dente’s Inferno (Tuscan Cooking School Mystery; 1), New York, N.Y.: Berkley Prime Crime, →ISBN, page 290:

     "Shoo, shoo, shoo, go help Pierfranco. He'll be bringing up heavy baskets, capisce?" I certainly capisced.

   • 2020, N[ora] K[eita] Jemisin, “The Interdimensional Art Critic Dr. White”, in The City We Became (Great Cities; 1), London: Orbit, →ISBN:

     "I'm just saying. Because I don't know if you ladies got a brownshirt vibe off those dudes like I did, but I've got two grandparents who would smack me sideways if I didn't say this. The others died in a concentration camp. Capisce?” / Bronca capisces, nodding slowly in grim agreement. Because, well. She grew up missing a few elders, too—and contemporaries, for that matter.

• ice caps, ice-caps, icecaps, ipecacs

• IPA^(key): /kaˈpiʃ.ʃe/
• Rhymes: -iʃʃe
• Hyphenation: ca‧pì‧sce

capisce

1. third-person singular present indicative of capire

• scapeci