capital

== English == === Alternative forms === capitall (obsolete) === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkæpɪtəl/, [ˈkʰæpɪtʰəl] ~ [ˈkʰæpɪtʰl̩] (Standard Southern British, Northern England, Scotland, Wales) IPA(key): /ˈkapɪtəl/, [ˈkʰapɪtʰəl] ~ [ˈkʰapɪtʰl̩] (US, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈkæpɪtəl/, [ˈkʰæpɪɾəl] ~ [ˈkʰæpɪɾl̩] (Australian) IPA(key): /ˈkæpətəl/, [ˈkʰæpəɾəl] ~ [ˈkʰæpəɾl̩] (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈkɛpətəl/, [ˈkʰɛpəɾəl] ~ [ˈkʰɛpəɾl̩] Rhymes: -æpɪtəl Hyphenation: cap‧it‧al Homophone: capitol === Etymology 1 === From Middle English capital, borrowed partly from Old French capital and partly from Latin capitālis (“of the head”) (in sense “head of cattle”), from caput (“head”) (English cap) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives). Use in trade and finance originated in Medieval economies when a common but expensive transaction involved trading heads of cattle. The noun is from the adjective. In the fourth sense, displaced native Old English hēafodburg, equivalent to head + borough (“city”). Compare chattel and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”. Doublet of cattle and chattel. ==== Noun ==== capital (countable and uncountable, plural capitals) (uncountable, business, finance, insurance, economics) Money and wealth: the means to acquire or produce goods and services, especially in a non-barter system. Hyponyms: venture capital, risk capital Near-synonym: assets (uncountable, economics) Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as tools and bulldozers (equipment) and office buildings (structures). Near-synonym: assets (uncountable, politics) The capitalist class; investors considered collectively with respect to their societal (economic, political, cultural, etc.) influence. (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. (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. (countable) An uppercase letter. Synonyms: caps, majuscule Antonym: minuscule (uncountable) Knowledge; awareness; proficiency. (countable, by extension) The chief or most important thing. ===== 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. ===== Translations ===== ==== Adjective ==== capital (not comparable) Of prime importance. Chief (in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation). (comparable, UK, dated) Excellent. a capital fellow (crime) Punishable by, or involving punishment by, death. Uppercase. Synonyms: majuscular, uppercase Antonym: lower-case used to emphasise greatness or absoluteness Of or relating to the head. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Interjection ==== capital (slang, dated) used as an expression of approval, satisfaction, or delight. === Etymology 2 === From Middle English capitale, partly from Old French capital and partly from Late Latin capitellum (“capital or chapiter of a column”), a form of Latin capitulum (“head-like object or structure; chapter”) (whence English capitulum, chapter, and the synonym chapiter (“uppermost part of a column”)), from caput (“head”) + -ulum (diminutive suffix). Doublet of caddie, cadel, cadet, capitellum, and caudillo. ==== Noun ==== capital (plural capitals) (countable, architecture) The uppermost part of a column. Synonym: chapiter ===== Translations ===== === References === Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “capital”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. “capital”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === palatic, placita == Asturian == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin capitālis. === Adjective === capital (epicene, plural capitales) capital === Noun === capital f (plural capitales) capital city (city designated as seat of government) === Noun === capital m (plural capitales) capital (money) == Catalan == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin capitālis. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central) [kə.piˈtal] IPA(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ka.piˈtal] === Adjective === capital m or f (masculine and feminine plural capitals) capital ==== Derived terms ==== pena capital set pecats capitals === Noun === capital f (plural capitals) capital (city) === Noun === capital m (plural capitals) capital (finance) ==== Derived terms ==== capitalisme capitalista capitalitzar ==== Further reading ==== “capital”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007 == French == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin capitālis. Doublet of cheptel. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ka.pi.tal/ === Noun === capital m (plural capitaux) capital (money and wealth) === Adjective === capital (feminine capitale, masculine plural capitaux, feminine plural capitales) capital (important) ==== Derived terms ==== === Related terms === capitale capitaliser capitalisme === Descendants === Haitian Creole: kapital === Further reading === “capital”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 === Anagrams === plaçait == Latin == === Etymology === Substantivation of apocopated capitāle, nominative neuter singular of capitālis (“punishable by death; of the head”). See capitis poena (“capital punishment”) and -al. === Pronunciation === (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈka.pɪ.taɫ] (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈkaː.pi.tal] === Noun === capital n (genitive capitālis); third declension a capital offence; a crime punishable by death, civil death, or exile capital facere ― to commit a capital offence ==== Declension ==== Third-declension noun (neuter, pure i-stem). === References === “capital”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “capital”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers == Portuguese == === Etymology === Learned borrowing from Latin capitālis. Doublet of cabedal and caudal. === Pronunciation === Rhymes: -al, -aw Hyphenation: ca‧pi‧tal === Noun === capital f (plural capitais) (geopolitics) capital; capital city (place where the seat of a government is located) (figurative) capital (the most important place associated with something) === Noun === capital m (plural capitais) (finances) capital (money that can be used to acquire goods and services) (figurative) anything of prime importance ==== Derived terms ==== capitalismo capitalista === Adjective === capital m or f (plural capitais) capital (of prime importance) (law) capital (involving punishment by death) (rare, anatomy) capital (relating to the head) ==== Related terms ==== === Further reading === “capital”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “capital”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Romanian == === Alternative forms === капитал (capital) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling === Etymology === Borrowed from French capital, Latin capitālis. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ka.piˈtal/ Rhymes: -al Hyphenation: ca‧pi‧tal === Noun === capital n (plural capitaluri) (economics, business) capital ==== Declension ==== === Adjective === capital m or n (feminine singular capitală, masculine plural capitali, feminine/neuter plural capitale) capital, important ==== Declension ==== === Further reading === “capital”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026 == Romansh == === Alternative forms === chapital (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader) chapitêl (Puter) === Etymology === From Latin capitālis, from caput (“head”). === Noun === capital m (plural capitals) (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) capital ==== Related terms ==== capitala, tgapitala == Spanish == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin capitālis. Doublet of caudal. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /kapiˈtal/ [ka.piˈt̪al] Rhymes: -al Syllabification: ca‧pi‧tal === Adjective === capital m or f (masculine and feminine plural capitales) capital (important) capital (relating to a death sentence) ==== Derived terms ==== === Noun === capital m (plural capitales) (finance) capital ==== Derived terms ==== === Noun === capital f (plural capitales) capital (city) ==== Related terms ==== === See also === Appendix:Spanish nouns that have different meanings depending on their gender === Further reading === “capital”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025