Hauptmann is a
German word usually translated as
captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the
German,
Austrian and
Swiss armies. While "
haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the meaning of "head", i.e.
Hauptmann literally translates to "head man", which is also the etymological root of "captain" (from Latin
caput head). It equates to Captain in the
British and
US Armies, and is rated
OF-2 in
NATO.