Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

capital

cap′i-tal

(kăp′ĭ-tal)
,
Noun.
[Cf. L.
capitellum
and
capitulum
, a small head, the head, top, or capital of a column, dim. of
caput
head; F.
chapiteau
, OF.
capitel
. See
chief
, and cf.
cattle
,
chattel
,
chapiter
,
chapter
.]
1.
(Arch.)
The head or uppermost member of a column, pilaster, etc. It consists generally of three parts,
abacus
,
bell
(or
vase
), and
necking
. See these terms, and
Column
.
2.
[Cf. F.
capilate
, fem., sc.
ville
.]
(Geog.)
The seat of government; the chief city or town in a country; a metropolis.
“A busy and splendid capital”
Macauly.
3.
[Cf. F.
capital
.]
Money, property, or stock employed in trade, manufactures, etc.; the sum invested or lent, as distinguished from the income or interest. See
Capital stock
, under
Capital
,
Adj.
4.
(Polit. Econ.)
That portion of the produce of industry, which may be directly employed either to support human beings or to assist in production.
M’Culloch.
☞ When wealth is used to assist production it is called
capital
. The capital of a civilized community includes
fixed capital
(i.e. buildings, machines, and roads used in the course of production and exchange) and
circulating capital
(i.e., food, fuel, money, etc., spent in the course of production and exchange).
T. Raleigh.
5.
Anything which can be used to increase one's power or influence.
He tried to make
capital
out of his rival's discomfiture.
London Times.
6.
(Fort.)
An imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or other work, into two equal parts.
7.
A chapter, or section, of a book.
[Obs.]
Holy St. Bernard hath said in the 59th
capital
.
Sir W. Scott.
8.
(Print.)
See
Capital letter
, under
Capital
,
Adj.
Active capital
.
See under
Active
,
–
Small capital
(Print.)
,
a small capital letter; informally referred to (in the plural) as
small caps
; as, the technical terms are listed in
small caps
. See under
Capital
,
Adj.
–
To live on one's capital
,
to consume one's capital without producing or accumulating anything to replace it.

Webster 1828 Edition

Capital

CAPITAL

,
Adj.
1.
Literally, pertaining to the head; as a capital bruise, in Milton, a bruise on the head.
2.
Figuratively, as the head is the highest part of a man, chief; principal; first in importance; as a capital city or town; the capital articles of religion.
3.
Punishable by loss of the head or of life; incurring the forfeiture of life; punishable with death; as, treason and murder are capital offenses or crimes.
4.
Taking away life, as a capital punishment; or affecting life, as a capital trial.
5.
Great, important, though perhaps not chief; as, a town possesses capital advantages for trade.
6.
Large; of great size; as capital letters, which are of different form, and larger than common letters.
Capital stock, is the sum of money or stock which a merchant, banker or manufacturer employs in his business; either the original stock, or that stock augmented. Also, the sum of money or stock which each partner contributes to the joint fund or stock of the partnership; also, the common fund or stock of the company, whether incorporated or not.
A capital city or town is the metropolis or chief city of an empire, kingdom, state or province. The application of the epithet indicates the city to be the largest, or to be the seat of government, or both. In many instances, the capital, that is, the largest city, is not the seat of government.

CAPITAL

,
Noun.
The uppermost part of a column, pillar or pilaster, serving as the head or crowning, and placed immediately over the shaft, and under the entablature.
By the customary omission of the noun, to which the adjective, capital, refers, it stand for,
1.
The chief city or town in a kingdom or state; a metropolis.
2.
A large letter or type, in printing.
3.
A stock in trade, in manufactures, or in any business requiring the expenditure of money with a view to profit.

Definition 2025

capital

capital

See also: capitâl

English

Alternative forms

  • capitall (obsolete)

Noun

capital ‎(countable and uncountable, plural capitals)

  1. (uncountable, economics) Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as steam shovels (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
  2. (uncountable, business, finance) Money and wealth. The means to acquire goods and services, especially in a non-barter system.
    He does not have enough capital to start a business.‎
  3. (countable) A city designated as a legislative seat by the government or some other authority, often the city in which the government is located; otherwise the most important city within a country or a subdivision of it.
    • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
      From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. […]   But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.
    Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States of America.‎
    The Welsh government claims that Cardiff is Europe’s youngest capital.‎
  4. (countable) The most important city in the field specified.
    • 2010 September, Charlie Brennan, "Active Athletes", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 83:
      Hollywood is the film capital, New York the theater capital, Las Vegas the gambling capital.
  5. (countable) An uppercase letter.
  6. (countable, architecture) The uppermost part of a column.
  7. (uncountable) Knowledge; awareness; proficiency.
    Interpreters need a good amount of cultural capital in order to function efficiently in the profession.‎

Usage notes

The homophone capitol refers only to a building, usually one that houses the legislative branch of a government, and often one located in a capital city.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

Adjective

capital ‎(not comparable)

  1. Of prime importance.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Atterbury
      a capital article in religion
    • 1852, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening
      whatever is capital and essential in Christianity
  2. Chief, in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation.
    London and Paris are capital cities.
  3. (comparable, Britain, dated) Excellent.
    That is a capital idea!
  4. Involving punishment by death.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Swift
      many crimes that are capital among us
    • (Can we date this quote?) Milton
      to put to death a capital offender
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 517:
      Some 1,600 priests were deported, for example, while the total number of capital victims of the military commissions down to 1799 was only around 150.
  5. Uppercase.
    One begins a sentence with a capital letter.
  6. Of or relating to the head.
    • Milton
      Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise / Expect with mortal pain.

Antonyms

Translations

Derived terms

Related terms

References

  • “capital” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Asturian

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Adjective

capital (epicene, plural capitales)

  1. capital

Noun

capital f ‎(plural capitales)

  1. capital city (city designated as seat of government)

capital m ‎(plural capitales)

  1. capital (money)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Noun

capital f ‎(plural capitals)

  1. capital (city)

Noun

capital m ‎(plural capitals)

  1. capital (finance)

French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis. Doublet of cheptel.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ka.pi.tal/

Noun

capital m ‎(plural capitaux)

  1. capital (money and wealth)

Adjective

capital m ‎(feminine singular capitale, masculine plural capitaux, feminine plural capitales)

  1. capital (important)
    La peine capitale est abolie en France depuis les années 1980.

Related terms

Anagrams

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /kɐpiˈtaɫ/
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˌka.pi.ˈtaw/

Noun

capital f (plural capitais)

  1. (geopolitics) capital; capital city (place where the seat of a government is located)
  2. (figuratively) capital (the most important place associated with something)

Noun

capital m (plural capitais)

  1. (finances) capital (money that can be used to acquire goods and services)
  2. (figuratively) anything of prime importance

Derived terms

Adjective

capital m, f ‎(plural capitais, comparable)

  1. capital (of prime importance)
  2. (law) capital (involving punishment by death)
  3. (rare, anatomy) capital (relating to the head)

Related terms

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from French capital, Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ka.piˈtal/

Noun

capital n ‎(plural capitaluri)

  1. (economics, business) capital

Declension

Adjective

capital m, n ‎(feminine singular capitală, masculine plural capitali, feminine and neuter plural capitale)

  1. capital, important

Declension

Romansch

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin capitālis, from caput ‎(“head”).

Noun

capital m (plural capitals)

  1. (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) capital

Related terms

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ka.piˈtal/

Adjective

capital m, f ‎(plural capitales)

  1. capital (important)
    Es asunto de capital importancia = "(This) is a very important matter"
    Lo condenaron a la pena capital = "He was sentenced to death penalty" (rare, "pena de muerte" is commonly used)

Noun

capital m ‎(plural capitales)

  1. capital (finance)

capital f ‎(plural capitales)

  1. capital (city)

See also

Etymology

From Middle English capital, a borrowing from Latin capitālis ‎(“of the head”), in sense “head of cattle”, from caput ‎(“head”) (English cap). Use in trade and finance originated in Medieval economies when a common but expensive transaction involved trading heads of cattle.

Compare chattel and kith and kine ‎(“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkæp.ɪ.təl/
  • Homophone: capitol

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