Definitions for capital
ˈkæp ɪ tlcap·i·tal

Princeton's WordNet(4.38 / 8 votes)Rate this definition:

1. capital, working capitalnoun

   assets available for use in the production of further assets

2. capitalnoun

   wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value

3. capitalnoun

   a seat of government

4. capital, capital letter, uppercase, upper-case letter, majusculenoun

   one of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing proper names and sometimes for emphasis

   "printers once kept the type for capitals and for small letters in separate cases; capitals were kept in the upper half of the type case and so became known as upper-case letters"

5. capitalnoun

   a center that is associated more than any other with some activity or product

   "the crime capital of Italy"; "the drug capital of Columbia"

6. Capital, Washingtonnoun

   the federal government of the United States

7. Das Kapital, Capitalnoun

   a book written by Karl Marx (1867) describing his economic theories

8. capital, chapiter, capadjective

   the upper part of a column that supports the entablature

9. capitaladjective

   first-rate

   "a capital fellow"; "a capital idea"

10. capitaladjective

    of primary importance

    "our capital concern was to avoid defeat"

11. capital, great, majusculeadjective

    uppercase

    "capital A"; "great A"; "many medieval manuscripts are in majuscule script"

Wiktionary(5.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. capitalnoun

   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. capitalnoun

   Money and wealth. The means to acquire goods and services, especially in a non-barter system.

3. capitalnoun

   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.

4. capitalnoun

   The most important city in the field specified.

5. capitalnoun

   An uppercase letter.

6. capitalnoun

   The uppermost part of a column.

7. capitalnoun

   Knowledge; awareness; proficiency.

   Interpreters need a good amount of cultural capital in order to function efficiently in the profession.

8. capitaladjective

   of prime importance

9. capitaladjective

   excellent

   That is a capital idea!

10. capitaladjective

    Involving punishment by death.

11. capitaladjective

    uppercase

    One begins a sentence with a capital letter.

12. Etymology: From capitalis, in sense “head of cattle”, from caput (English cap). Use in trade and finance originated in Medieval economies when a common but expensive transaction involved trading heads of cattle.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. CAPITALadjective

   Etymology: capitalis, Lat.

   1. Relating to the head.

   Needs must the serpent now his capital bruise
   Expect with mortal pain. Paradise Lost, b. xii. l. 383.

   2. Criminal in the highest degree, so as to touch life.

   Edmund, I arrest thee
   On capital treason. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   Several cases deserve greater punishment than many crimes that are capital among us. Jonathan Swift.

   3. That which affects life.

   In capital causes, wherein but one man’s life is in question, the evidence ought to be clear; much more in a judgment upon a war, which is capital to thousands. Francis Bacon.

   4. Chief; principal.

   I will, out of that infinite number, reckon but some that are most capital, and commonly occurrent both in the life and conditions of private men. Edmund Spenser, on Ireland.

   As to swerve in the least points, is errour; so the capital enemies thereof God hateth, as his deadly foes, aliens, and, without repentance, children of endless perdition. Richard Hooker.

   They are employed by me, and do, in themselves, tend to confirm the truth of a capital article in religion. Francis Atterbury.

   5. Chief; metropolitan.

   This had been
   Perhaps thy capital seat, from whence had spread
   All generations; and had hither come,
   From all the ends of th’ earth, to celebrate
   And reverence thee, their great progenitor. Par. Lost, b. xi.

   6. Applied to letters; large; such as are written at the beginnings or heads of books.

   Our most considerable actions are always present, like capital letters to an aged and dim eye. Jeremy Taylor, Rule of Living holy.

   The first whereof is written in capital letters, without chapters or verses. Nehemiah Grew, Cosmologia Sacra.

   7. Capital Stock. The principal or original stock of a trading company.

2. Capitalnoun

   Etymology: from the adjective.

   1. The upper part of a pillar.

   You see the volute of the Ionick, the foliage of the Corinthian, and the uovali of the Dorick, mixed, without any regularity, on the same capital. Joseph Addison, on Italy.

   2. The chief city of a nation or kingdom.

Webster Dictionary(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Capitalnoun

   of or pertaining to the head

2. Capitalnoun

   having reference to, or involving, the forfeiture of the head or life; affecting life; punishable with death; as, capital trials; capital punishment

3. Capitalnoun

   first in importance; chief; principal

4. Capitalnoun

   chief, in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation; as, Washington and Paris are capital cities

5. Capitalnoun

   of first rate quality; excellent; as, a capital speech or song

6. Capitalnoun

   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

7. Capitalnoun

   the seat of government; the chief city or town in a country; a metropolis

8. Capitalnoun

   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, a

9. Capitaladjective

   that portion of the produce of industry, which may be directly employed either to support human beings or to assist in production

10. Capitaladjective

    anything which can be used to increase one's power or influence

11. Capitaladjective

    an imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or other work, into two equal parts

12. Capitaladjective

    a chapter, or section, of a book

13. Capitaladjective

    see Capital letter, under Capital, a

14. Etymology: [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.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Capital

   kap′it-al, adj. relating to the head: involving the loss of the head; chief: principal: excellent.—n. the head or top part of a column or pillar: the chief or most important thing: the chief city of a country: a large letter, such as used on title-pages, &c.: the stock or money for carrying on any business.—n. Capitalisā′tion, the act of converting into capital: printing with capital letters.—v.t. Cap′italīse, to convert into capital or money.—ns. Cap′italism, condition of possessing capital: the economic system which generates capitalists; Cap′italist, one who has capital or money.—adv. Cap′itally, chiefly: principally: excellently: by capital punishment.—adj. Cap′itate (bot.), growing in or shaped like a head.—ns. Capitā′tion, a numbering of every head or individual: a tax on every head; Capite (kap′it-i), an ancient English tenure (Shak.).—Circulating or Floating capital consists of the wages paid to the workmen, and of the raw material used up in the processes of industry, &c.; Fixed capital consists of buildings, machines, tools, &c.—Hold lands in capite, to hold them directly from the sovereign.—Make capital out of, to turn to advantage. [O. Fr. capitel—L. capitalis—caput, the head.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. capital

   In technical fortification, is an imaginary line bisecting the salient angle of a work.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. capital

   A form of money, property or assets.

   The capital costs were easily defined and managed.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on March 14, 2020  

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. capital

   Song lyrics by capital -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by capital on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Assets
   • Book
   • Center
   • Federal Government
   • Seat

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'capital' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #734

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'capital' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1253

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'capital' in Nouns Frequency: #309

Anagrams for capital »

1. palatic

How to pronounce capital?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say capital in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of capital in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of capital in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of capital in a Sentence

1. Prime Minister Stephen Harper:

   The business of shipping natural gas is capital intensive. The bar for entry is high.

2. Joseph Margulies:

   I just think he is not willing to expend political capital to do it, it's not nearly as important to him as the Iran deal.

3. David Andrew Weinberg:

   The sectarian element of this conflict is very significant … the Saudis have not shown themselves to be particularly concerned with power struggles between one faction or another in Yemen over the years, but when they see another Middle Eastern capital falling to Iranian, Shiite proxies, they have alarm bells going off.

4. Khamzat Khasbulatov:

   It's important to localize not only food processing but also production, in terms of capital allocation, Russia remains an  interesting region ... within the (McDonald's) system.

5. Buddhist:

   As one might nurse a tiny flame, The able and far-seeing man, E?en with the smallest capital, Can raise himself to wealth.

Popularity rank by frequency of use