Capital

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈkæp.ɪ.tÉ™l/
• Homophones: capitol

Alternative forms

• capitall obsolete

Origin

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”.

Full definition of capital

Noun

1. (uncountable, economics) Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as steam shovels (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
   He does not have enough capital to start a business.
2. (uncountable, business, finance) Money and wealth. The means to acquire goods and services, especially in a non-barter system.
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.
• 2013-06-08, The new masters and commanders, 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.
4. Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States of America.
   The Welsh government claims that Cardiff is Europe’s youngest capital.
5. (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.
6. (countable) An uppercase letter.
7. (countable, architecture) The uppermost part of a column.
8. (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

• (An uppercase letter) caps (in the plural), majuscule

Antonyms

• (An uppercase letter) minuscule

Adjective

1. of prime importance
• Atterburya capital article in religion
• I. Taylorwhatever 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. (British, dated) excellentThat is a capital idea!
4. Involving punishment by death.
• Jonathan Swiftmany crimes that are capital among us
• Miltonto 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. uppercaseOne begins a sentence with a capital letter.
6. Of or relating to the head.
• MiltonNeeds must the Serpent now his capital bruise
  Expect with mortal pain.

Antonyms

• (uppercase) lower-case

Derived terms

Related terms