Capitation Definition

kăpĭ-tāshən

noun

A tax or fee of so much per head; payment per capita.

Webster's New World

A poll tax.

American Heritage Medicine

The practice of prepaying doctors, etc. in a capitated healthcare plan.

Webster's New World

A payment or fee of a fixed amount per person, such as one remitted at regular intervals to a medical provider by a managed care organization for an enrolled patient.

American Heritage Medicine

The amount of the prepayment in such a plan.

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Capitation

Noun

Singular:

capitation

Plural:

capitations

Origin of Capitation

Late Latin capitātiō capitātiōn- from Latin caput capit- head kaput- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
From Latin capitationem, from caput (“head”).

From Wiktionary