Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon

A.of the head: metaph., principal, chief, ῥῆμα κ. (with a play on κεφαλίτης λίθος) Ar.Ra.854; “τὸ κ. μέρος” PMasp.151.16 (vi A.D.): Sup. -ότατος v.l. in Pl.Grg.494e.

II. mostly Subst. κεφάλαιον, τό, = κεφαλή, head, parts about the head, esp. of fish, θύννου κ. τοδί Callias Com.3: in pl., Amphis 35, Sotad. Com.1.5; also “κ. ῥαφανῖδος” Ar.Nu.981; of an infant, Leonid. ap. Aët.6.1.

2. chief or main point, “κ. δὴ παιδείας λέγομεν τὴν ὀρθὴν τροφήν” Pl.Lg.643c; esp. in speaking or writing, sum, gist of the matter, “κεφάλαια λόγων” Pi.P.4.116; “κ. τοῦ παντὸς λόγου” Men.Georg. 75, cf. Cic.Att.5.18.1; τὰ κ. συγγράφων Εὐριπίδῃ drawing up the heads of the play, Antiph.113.5: freq. in Prose, Th.4.50, Pl.Grg. 453a, etc.; “κ. τῶν εἰρημένων” Isoc.3.62, cf. 5.154; “κ. τῆς οἰκονομίας” Phld.Rh.1.68 S. (pl.); ἐν κεφαλαίῳ, or ὡς ἐν κ., εἰπεῖν to speak summarily, X.Cyr.6.3.18, Pl.Smp.186c, al.; ἐν κεφαλαίοις ὑπομνῆσαι, ἀποδείξειν, περιλαβεῖν τι, Th.6.87, Lys.13.33, Isoc.2.9; “βραχυτάτῳ κ. μαθεῖν” Th.1.36; τύπῳ καὶ ἐπὶ κεφαλαίου (v.l. -αίῳ), opp. ἀκριβέστερον, Arist.EN1107b14; “ἐπὶ κ.” Plb.1.65.5, 3.5.9; “ἐπὶ κεφαλαίων” D.19.315, etc.; esp. in an argument, summing up, “ἐν κεφαλαίοις” Pl.Ti. 26c; κεφαλαίῳ δέ . . , Lat. denique, Decr. ap. D.18.164; τὸ δ᾽ οὖν κ. ib.213; “τὸ δὲ κ. τῶν λόγων, ἄνθρωπος εἶ” Men.531.10; συναγαγεῖν τὸ κ. to sum up, Arist.Metaph. 1042a4.

3. metaph., of persons, the head or chief, ὅ τι περ κ. τῶν κάτωθεν, of Pericles, Eup.93; “τὸ κ. οὐδέπω λογίζομαι, τὸν δεσπότην” Men.Pk.173; “ὅ τι περ τὸ κ.” Luc.Harm. 3, Gall.24, Philops.6; τὰ κ. τῶν μαθημάτων, of philosophers, Id.Pisc. 14; “τὸ κ. τοῦ πολέμου” App.BC5.50; οἳ τὸ τῆς στάσεως κ. ἦσαν ib.43; “τὸν Θαλῆν τῶν σοφῶν τὸ κ.” Jul.Or.3.125d: hence, of qualities, etc., σχεδόν τι τὸ κ. τῶν κακῶν (sc. avarice) Apollod. Gel.4; “τὸ κ. τῆς εὐδαιμονίας ἡ διάθεσις” Diog.Oen.57.

4. Rhet., head, topic of argument, D.H.Comp.1, Rh.10.5, Str.1.2.31.

5. of money, capital, opp. interest or income, Pl.Lg.742c, D.27.64, etc.

b. sum total, IG12.91.23, al., Lys.19.40, D.27.10; πολλοῦ κ. for a large sum, Act. Ap.22.28, cf. Aristeas 24, Plu.Fab.4, etc.; “κ. ἀργυρικά” PRyl.133.15 (i A.D.); also “σιτικὰ καὶ ἀργυρικὰ κ.” PSI4.281.31 (ii A.D.).

6. crown, completion of a thing, τὸ μὲν κ. τῶν ἀδικημάτων the crowning act of wrong, D.27.7; “δύο ταῦτα ὡσπερεὶ κ. ἐφ᾽ ἅπασι . . ἐπέθηκε” Id.21.18.

7. chapter, section, PGnom.Prooem., Ammon.in Int.1.17, al., Chor.in Hermes 17.223; distd. from τίτλος, Suid. s.h.v.