capitalism

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[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From the Latin capitalis via the English root capital

First used by novelist William Thackeray in 1854 to mean "owners of capital", within a few years was being used by both Pierre Proudhon and Karl Marx as a pejorative for property-based, free market economics. Eventually caught on to widespread use politically, whether seen as good or bad[1].

[edit] Noun

Singular
capitalism

Plural
countable and uncountable; plural capitalisms

capitalism (countable and uncountable; plural capitalisms)

  1. (politics, uncountable) a socio-economic system based on private property rights, including the private ownership of resources or capital, with economic decisions made largely through the operation of an unregulated market.
  2. (economics, uncountable) a socio-economic system based on the abstraction of resources into the form of privately-owned capital, with economic decisions made largely through the operation of an unregulated market.
  3. (countable) a specific variation or implementation of either such socio-economic system.

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