capiter

An old, essentially obsolete verb meaning to levy a tax by head count (une capitation) — a backformation from capitation used mainly in historical and legal-history texts about pre-modern tax systems. Not part of any living register.

• Sous l'Ancien Régime, on capitait les habitants selon leur condition sociale. — Under the Ancien Régime, inhabitants were taxed per head according to their social rank.
• L'édit royal capitait chaque foyer, riche ou pauvre. — The royal edict imposed a poll tax on every household, rich or poor.
• Les historiens étudient comment on capitait la population des provinces. — Historians study how the population of the provinces was subjected to poll tax.

This verb is essentially extinct outside historical scholarship — modern French says imposer or taxer per capita rather than reach for capiter, which will strike virtually all native speakers as archaic or unfamiliar.