Ca"pi*as (?), n. [L. thou mayst take.] Low
A writ or process commanding the officer to take the body of the person named in it, that is, to arrest him; -- also called writ of capias.
⇒ One principal kind of capias is a writ by which actions at law are frequently commenced; another is a writ of execution issued after judgment to satisfy damages recovered; a capias in criminal law is the process to take a person charged on an indictment, when he is not in custody.
Burrill. Wharton.
© Webster 1913.