'Head,' 'capital,' 'captain,' 'chapter,' and 'cattle' all come from the same PIE root *kaput- (head). 'Cattle' arrived via Latin 'capitale' (property, wealth) — livestockwas literally 'head-count' wealth, which is also why we still count cattle 'per head.'
(the head city or head letter), captain (headman), chapter (from caput via Old French chapitre), cattle (from capitale, head of livestock), chief, chef, and precipitate (to throw headlong). The Germanic native form
Latin caput. The compound beheaded is attested from the 14th century. Old English used the word as a unit in counting livestock: so many head of cattle. Key roots: *kaput- (Proto-Indo-European: "head").