English
capital
Pronunciation
  • (British, America) IPA: /ˈkæpɪtəl/
    • (America) IPA: [ˈkʰæp.ɪ.ɾɫ̩]
Etymology 1

From Middle English capital, borrowed partly from Old French capital and partly from Latin capitālis (in sense “head of cattle”), from caput (English cap) + -ālis.

Compare chattel and kith and kine, which also use “cow” to mean “property”.

Noun

capital

  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, insurance) 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.
    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. (uncountable) Knowledge; awareness; proficiency.
    Interpreters need a good amount of cultural capital in order to function efficiently in the profession.
  7. (countable, by extension) The chief or most important thing.
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “An uppercase letter”): minuscule
Translations Adjective

capital (not comparable)

  1. Of prime importance.
    • 1708, Francis Atterbury, Fourteen Sermons Preach'd on Several Occasions, Preface:
      a capital article in religion
  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, UK, dated) Excellent.
    That is a capital idea!
    • 1878, Henry James, An International Episode‎:
      “He is a capital fellow,” the Englishman in London had said, “and he has got an awfully pretty wife. […] ”
  4. (crime) Punishable by, or involving punishment by, death.
    • 1709, [Jonathan Swift], A Project for the Advancement of Religion, and the Reformation of Manners. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke, […], →OCLC ↗, pages 53–54 ↗:
      Neither could the Legiſlature in any thing more conſult the Publick Good, than by providing ſome effectual Remedy againſt this Evil, which in ſeveral Caſes deſerves greater Puniſhment than many Crimes that are capital among us.
    • 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC ↗:
      to put to death a capital offender
    • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 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.
    Antonyms: lower-case
    One begins a sentence with a capital letter.
    1. used to emphasise greatness or absoluteness
      You're a genius with a capital G!
      He's dead with a capital D!
  6. Of or relating to the head.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
      Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise / Expect with mortal pain.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

From Middle English capitale, partly from Old French capital and partly from Late Latin capitellum, a form of Latin capitulum (whence English capitulum, chapter, and the synonym chapiter), from caput + -ulum.

Noun

capital (plural capitals)

  1. (countable, architectural element) The uppermost part of a column.
    Synonyms: chapiter
Translations

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