noun Law.
- a writ commanding an officer to take a specified person into custody.
noun
- law (formerly) a writ directing a sheriff or other officer to arrest a named person
writ of arrest issued by a court, mid-15c., from Latin capias, literally “thou mayest take,” typical first word of such a writ; properly 2nd person singular present subjunctive of capere “to catch, seize, hold” (see capable).