capital

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• capitall (obsolete)

Etymology

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”.

This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈkæp.ɪ.təl/, X-SAMPA: /"k{p.I.t@l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: capitol

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).

   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.

   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

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

Antonyms

• (An uppercase letter): minuscule

Derived terms

real capital financial capital economic capital

social capital capital asset capital ship capital goods

Translations

capital city — see capital city

money and wealth

• Afrikaans: kapitaal (af)
• Albanian: kapital (sq) f
• Arabic: رأسمال (ar) (ra'smaal) m, رأس مال (ar) (ra's maal) m
• Armenian: կապիտալ (hy) (kapital)
• Bulgarian: капитал (bg) (kapitál) m
• Catalan: capital (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 資本 (cmn) (zīběn)

• Czech: kapitál (cs)
• Dutch: kapitaal (nl) n
• Estonian: kapital (et)
• Finnish: pääoma (fi)
• French: capital (fr) m
• Galician: capital (gl) f
• Georgian: კაპიტალი (ka) (kapitali)
• German: Kapital (de) n
• Greek: κεφάλαιο (el) (kefálaio) n
• Hebrew: הון (he) (hon) m
• Hungarian: tőke (hu)
• Icelandic: höfuðborg (is)
• Indonesian: modal (id), kapital (id)

• Irish: caipiteal (ga) m
• Italian: capitale (it) m
• Japanese: 資本 (ja) (しほん, shihon)
• Korean: 자본 (ko) (jabon) (資本 (ko))
• Malay: modal (ms)
• Malayalam: മൂലധനം (ml) (mūladhanam)
• Manx: bun-argid (gv) m
• Polish: kapitał (pl) m
• Portuguese: capital (pt) f
• Romanian: capital (ro)
• Romansch: chapital (rm) m (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader), capital (rm) m (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), chapitêl (rm) m (Puter)
• Russian: капитал (ru) (kapitál) m, состояние (ru) (sostojánije) n
• Scottish Gaelic: airgead-calpa (gd) m
• Spanish: capital (es) m
• Swedish: kapital (sv) n
• Telugu: పెట్టుబడి (te) (peṭṭubaḍi), సంపద (te) (saṃpada)
• Turkish: anapara (tr), anamal (tr), sermaye (tr), kapital (tr)
• Urdu: سرمایہ (ur) (ser-mayia)
• Vietnamese: vốn (vi), chính (vi)
• Volapük: katäd (vo)
• Welsh: cyfalaf (cy)

uppercase letter

• Arabic: حرف كبير (ar) (Harf kabiir) m
• Armenian: մեծատառ (hy) (meçataṙ)
• Bulgarian: главна буква (bg) (glávna búkva) f
• Catalan: lletra majúscula (ca) f, majúscula (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 大寫字母 (cmn), 大写字母 (cmn) (dàxiě zìmǔ)

• Czech: velké písmeno (cs)
• Dutch: hoofdletter (nl) f
• Finnish: iso kirjain (fi), versaalikirjain (fi), majuskeli (fi)
• French: majuscule (fr) f
• Georgian: დიდი ასო (ka) (didi aso), ასომთავრული (ka) (asomt‘avruli)
• German: Großbuchstabe (de) m
• Greek: κεφαλαίο (el) (kefalaío) n

• Hungarian: nagybetű (hu)
• Indonesian: huruf besar
• Irish: ceannlitir (ga) f
• Italian: maiuscola (it) f
• Japanese: 大文字 (ja) (おおもじ, ōmoji)
• Korean: 대사 (ko) (daesa), 대문자 (ko) (daemunja) (大文字 (ko))
• Polish: duża litera (pl) f, wielka litera (pl) f
• Portuguese: (letra) maiúscula
• Russian: заглавная буква (ru) (zaglávnaja búkva) f, большая буква (ru) (bol’šája búkva) f
• Spanish: mayúscula (es) f
• Swedish: versal (sv), stor bokstav (sv)
• Turkish: büyük harf (tr), büyük (tr)
• Volapük: mayud (vo)

uppermost part of a column

• Bulgarian: капител (bg) (kapitel) m
• Catalan: capitell (ca) m
• Dutch: kapiteel (nl) n
• Estonian: kapiteel (et)
• Finnish: kapiteeli (fi)
• French: chapiteau (fr)
• German: Kapitell (de) n
• Greek: κιονόκρανο (el) (kionókrano) n

• Hungarian: oszlopfő (hu)
• Italian: capitello (it) m
• Japanese: 柱頭 (ja) (ちゅうとう, chūtō)
• Korean: 대문자 (ko) (daemunja)
• Polish: nagłówek (pl) m
• Russian: капитель (ru) (kapitél’) f
• Spanish: capitel (es) m
• Swedish: kapitäl (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ibukota (1), kapital (2)
• Interlingua: capital (1,2); majuscula, littera majuscule (3)
• Somali: raasumaal (so)

Adjective

capital (not comparable)

1. of prime importance
2. (UK) excellent

   That is a capital idea!

3. Involving punishment by death.
   • 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.

4. uppercase

   One begins a sentence with a capital letter.

Translations

of prime importance

• Bulgarian: главен (bg) (glaven), основен (bg) (osnoven)
• Catalan: capital (ca)
• Chinese: 主要的, 主要的 (zhǔ yào de)
• Dutch: hoofd- (nl), kapitaal (nl)
• Finnish: ensisijainen, pääasiallinen, pää- (in compounds)
• German: Haupt-
• Greek: κεφαλαιώδης (el) (kefalaiodis)

• Italian: capitale (it), principale (it)
• Japanese: 主 (ja)な (おもな, omo na), 主要 (ja)な (しゅような, shuyō na)
• Korean: 가장 중요한 (ko) (gajang jungyohan)
• Russian: главный (ru) (glávnyj), основной (ru) (osnovnój), капитальный (ru) (kapitál'nyj)
• Spanish: capital (es)
• Swedish: huvudsaklig (sv)

excellent

• Catalan: excel·lent (ca)
• Dutch: uitstekend (nl), excellent (nl)
• Finnish: mahtava (fi), suurenmoinen (fi), loistava (fi), fantastinen (fi)
• French: excellent (fr)
• German: großartig (de)

• Italian: ottimo (it), magnifico (it), eccellente (it), splendido (it)
• Japanese: 優れた (ja) (すぐれた, sugureta), 素晴らしい (ja) (すばらしい, subarashī)
• Korean: 최고의 (ko) (chwigo-ui), 최상의 (ko) (chwisang-ui)
• Russian: капитальный (ru) (kapitál'nyj)
• Spanish: excelente (es)

involving punishment by death

• Catalan: capital (ca)
• Chinese: 致命的, 致命的 (jì mìng de)
• Dutch: dood(straf)
• Finnish: kuolemalla rangaistava, kohtalokas (figuratively)
• French: capital (fr) m, capitale (fr) f
• German: Kapital-

• Italian: capitale (it)
• Japanese: 致命的 (ja)な (ちめいてきな, chimeiteki na)
• Korean: 사형 (ko) (sahyeong)
• Malayalam: മരണ ശിക്ഷ (ml) (maraNa Siksha)
• Spanish: capital (es)

uppercase

• Armenian: մեծատառ (hy) (meçataṙ)
• Bulgarian: главен (bg) (glaven)
• Catalan: majúscula (ca)
• Chinese: 大寫, 大写 (dà xiě)
• Dutch: hoofd(letter)
• Finnish: versaali (fi), iso (fi)
• French: majuscule (fr)
• German: Groß- (de)

• Greek: κεφαλαίος (el) (kefalaios)
• Italian: maiuscolo (it)
• Japanese: 大文字 (ja)の (おおもじの, ōmoji no)
• Korean: 어퍼케이스 (ko) (eopeokeiseu)
• Russian: заглавный (ru) (zaglávnyj), большой (ru) (bol'šoj)
• Spanish: mayúscula (es)
• Volapük: mayudik (vo)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: capital (1); excellente (2)
• Portuguese: capitalm, f (1); excelente m, f (2)

Antonyms

• (uppercase): lower-case

Related terms

• chapiter
• chapter
• captain
• capitulate
• capitulation

Derived terms

• block capitals
• capital punishment
• capitalism

References

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

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Catalan

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Noun

capital f (plural capitals)

1. capital (city)

Noun

capital m (plural capitals)

1. capital (finance)

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French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

• IPA: /ka.pi.tal/, X-SAMPA: /ka.pi.tal/

Noun

capital m (plural capitaux)

1. capital (money and wealth)

Adjective

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

1. capital (important)

   La peine capitale est abolie en France depuis les années 1980.

Related terms

• capitale
• capitaliser
• capitalisme

Anagrams

• plaçait

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Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA: /kɐpiˈtaɫ/

Noun

capital f (plural capitais)

1. (geography) capital

Noun

capital m (plural capitais)

1. (economics) capital

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Romanian

Etymology

Borrowing from French capital, Latin capitālis.

Noun

capital n (plural capitaluri)

1. (economics, business) capital

Adjective

capital

1. capital, important

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Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader) chapital
• (Puter) chapitêl

Etymology

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

Noun

capital m (plural capitals)

1. (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) capital

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Spanish

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ka.piˈtal/

Adjective

capital m and 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

• capitalizar