capital

See also: capitâl

English

A Doric capital

An Ionic capital

A Corinthian capital

A Composite capital

Alternative forms

capitall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English capital, borrowed 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 etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

(UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.ɪ.təl/
(US) IPA^(key): [ˈkæp.ɪ.t̬əl]
- Audio (US) (file)
Homophone: capitol

Noun

capital (countable and uncountable, plural capitals)

(uncountable, economics) Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as steam shovels (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
(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.
(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.
- 1995, Fang, Linda, The Chʻi-lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories‎, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, →ISBN, LCCN 94-9909, OCLC 214972990, OL 1086004M, page 54:
  Lin Hsiang-ju immediately said to the king of Ch’in, “If Ta-wang wants fifteen cities from Chao, the king of Chao should also get something in return. What about giving him Hsien-yang as a gift?’ Hsien-yang was the capital of Ch’in.
- 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:
  From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. […] But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.
Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States of America.
The Welsh government claims that Cardiff is Europe’s youngest capital.
(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.
(countable, architecture) The uppermost part of a column.
(uncountable) Knowledge; awareness; proficiency.
Interpreters need a good amount of cultural capital in order to function efficiently in the profession.
(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.

Synonyms

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

Antonyms

(An uppercase letter): minuscule

Translations

capital city — see capital city

money and wealth

Afrikaans: kapitaal (af)
Albanian: kapital (sq) f
Apache:
Western Apache: haago zhaali nadehí bigozʼąąyú
Arabic: رَأْسْمَال‎ (ar) m (raʾsmāl), رَأْس مَال‎ m (raʾs māl)
Egyptian Arabic: راس المال‎ m (rās el-māl)
Armenian: կապիտալ (hy) (kapital)
Assamese: মূলধন ? (mulodhon)
Azerbaijani: sərmayə, maya (az), kapital
Belarusian: капіта́л m (kapitál), бага́цце (be) n (baháccje)
Bengali: পুঁজি (pũji)
Bulgarian: капита́л (bg) m (kapitál)
Burmese: အရင်း (my) (a.rang:)
Catalan: capital (ca) m
Cebuano: kapital
Chinese:
Mandarin: 資本／资本 (zh) (zīběn)
Czech: kapitál (cs) m
Danish: kapital c
Dutch: kapitaal (nl) n
Estonian: kapital
Finnish: pääoma (fi)
French: capital (fr) m
Galician: capital (gl) m, fondo (gl) m, fondos m pl
Georgian: კაპიტალი (ḳaṗiṭali)
German: Kapital (de) n
Greek: κεφάλαιο (el) n (kefálaio)
Hebrew: הוֹן‎ (he) m (hon)
Hindi: पूंजी f (pūñjī), मूलधन (hi) m (mūldhan), सरमाया (hi) m (sarmāyā), पूँजी (hi) f (pūñjī), संपद (hi) m (sampad)
Hungarian: tőke (hu)
Icelandic: fjármagn (is) n
Ido: kapitalo (io)
Indonesian: modal (id), kapital (id)
Irish: caipiteal m
Italian: capitale (it) m
Japanese: 資本 (ja) (しほん, shihon)
Kazakh: қаражат (qarajat), капитал (kapital)
Khmer: មូល (km) (muul), មូលធន (km) (muulĕəʼthŭən), ធន (km) (thŭən)
Korean: 자본(資本) (ko) (jabon)
Kyrgyz: капитал (ky) (kapital)
Lao: ທຶນ (thưn), ຕົ້ນທຶນ (lo) (ton thưn)
Macedonian: капитал m (kapital)
Malay: modal
Malayalam: മൂലധനം (ml) (mūladhanaṃ)
Manx: bun-argid m
Maori: moni haupū rawa, moni haupū
Nepali: पूँजी (pũnji)
Norwegian: kapital (no) ?
Persian: سرمایه‎ (fa) (sarmâye)
Polish: kapitał (pl) m
Portuguese: capital (pt) m
Romanian: capital (ro) n
Romansch: chapital m (Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader), capital m (Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran), chapitêl m (Puter)
Russian: капита́л (ru) m (kapitál), состоя́ние (ru) n (sostojánije), бога́тство (ru) n (bogátstvo)
Scottish Gaelic: airgead-calpa m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: капѝта̄л m
Roman: kapìtāl (sh) m
Slovak: kapitál m
Slovene: kapital (sl) m
Spanish: capital (es) m
Swedish: kapital (sv) n
Tagalog: kabisera, kapital
Tajik: сармоя (tg) (sarmoya)
Telugu: పెట్టుబడి (te) (peṭṭubaḍi), సంపద (te) (sampada)
Thai: ทุน (th) (tun)
Turkish: anapara (tr), anamal (tr), sermaye (tr), kapital (tr)
Ukrainian: капіта́л (uk) m (kapitál), бага́тство (uk) n (bahátstvo)
Urdu: سرمایہ‎ ? (ser-māyā)
Uyghur: كاپىتال‎ (kapital), دىر‎ (dir)
Uzbek: kapital (uz)
Vietnamese: vốn (vi), chính (vi), tư bản (vi)
Volapük: katäd (vo)
Welsh: cyfalaf (cy) m
Yiddish: קאַפּיטאַל‎ n (kapital)

capital letter — see capital letter

uppermost part of a column

Arabic: تَاج العَمُود‎ m (tāj al-ʿamūd)
Armenian: խոյակ (hy) (xoyak)
Azerbaijani: kapitel
Basque: kapitel
Belarusian: капітэль f (kapitelʹ)
Bulgarian: капите́л m (kapitél)
Catalan: capitell (ca) m
Chinese:
Cantonese: 柱頭, 柱头 (cyu⁵ tau⁴)
Mandarin: 柱頭／柱头 (zh) (zhùtóu)
Czech: hlavice (cs) f
Danish: kapitæl (da) c
Dutch: kapiteel (nl) n
Esperanto: kapitelo
Estonian: kapiteel
Finnish: kapiteeli (fi)
French: chapiteau (fr) m
Galician: capitel (gl) m
Georgian: კაპიტელი (ḳaṗiṭeli)
German: Kapitell (de) n, Säulenkopf m
Greek: κιονόκρανο (el) n (kionókrano)
Hebrew: כּוֹתֶרֶת‎ (he) f (kotéret), צֶפֶת‎ (he) f (tséfet)(rare)
Hungarian: oszlopfő
Icelandic: súluhöfuð n
Ido: kapitelo (io)
Indonesian: kapital (id)
Italian: capitello (it) m
Japanese: 柱頭 (ja) (ちゅうとう, chūtō)
Korean: 주두(柱頭) (judu)
Latvian: kapitelis m
Lithuanian: kapitelis (lt) m
Macedonian: капител m (kapitel)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: kapitel (no) n
Occitan: capitèl (oc) m
Ottoman Turkish: باشلق‎ (başlık)
Persian: سر ستون‎ (sar sotun)
Polish: kapitel (pl) m, głowica (pl) f
Portuguese: capitel (pt) m
Romanian: capitel (ro) m
Russian: капите́ль (ru) f (kapitélʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: капѝтел m
Roman: kapìtel (sh) m
Slovak: hlavica f
Slovene: kapitel (sl) m
Spanish: capitel (es) m
Swedish: kapitäl (sv) c
Turkish: sütun başı
Ukrainian: капіте́ль f (kapitélʹ)
Uzbek: kapital (uz)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} capital (1,2)
Somali: ^{(please verify)} raasumaal (so)

Adjective

capital (not comparable)

Of prime importance.
- 1708, Francis Atterbury, Fourteen Sermons Preach'd on Several Occasions : Preface
  a capital article in religion
- 1852, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening:
  whatever is capital and essential in Christianity
Chief, in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation.
London and Paris are capital cities.
(comparable, Britain, dated) Excellent.
That is a capital idea!
- 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 166:
  Sometimes he laughed heartily as if he heard some capital joke; by degrees this lessened, and he spoke rapidly, but in very low tones.
(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 220146796, 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 1044608640:
  to put to death a capital offender
- 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.
Uppercase.
Antonym: 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!
  - 2021 February 9, Christina Newland, “Is Tom Hanks part of a dying breed of genuine movie stars?”, in BBC‎:
    In recent years, much has been made of the lack of new heavyweight male star power in mainstream Hollywood. Talented performers may be everywhere, but Movie Stars, capital M, capital S, are something else.
Of or relating to the head.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
  Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise / Expect with mortal pain.

Translations

of prime importance

Bulgarian: главен (bg) (glaven), основен (bg) (osnoven)
Catalan: capital (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 主要的 (zh) (zhǔyào de)
Dutch: hoofd-, kapitaal (nl)
Finnish: ensisijainen (fi), pääasiallinen (fi), pää- (in compounds)
German: Haupt-
Greek: κεφαλαιώδης (el) (kefalaiódis)
Ancient: κεφάλαιος (kephálaios)
Italian: capitale (it), principale (it)
Japanese: 主な (ja) (おもな, omo na), 主要な (ja) (しゅような, shuyō na)
Korean: 중요하다(重要) (ko) (jung'yohada), 주요하다(主要) (ko) (juyohada)
Portuguese: capital (pt), fundamental (pt)
Russian: гла́вный (ru) (glávnyj), основно́й (ru) (osnovnój), капита́льный (ru) (kapitálʹnyj)
Spanish: capital (es)
Swedish: huvudsaklig (sv)

excellent

Catalan: excel·lent (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 優秀／优秀 (zh) (yōuxiù)
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 (すぐれた, sugureta), 素晴らしい (ja) (すばらしい, subarashii)
Korean: 최고(最高)의 (choego-ui), 최상(最上)의 (choesang-ui)
Portuguese: excelente (pt)
Russian: превосхо́дный (ru) (prevosxódnyj), капита́льный (ru) (kapitálʹnyj), отли́чный (ru) (otlíčnyj)
Spanish: excelente (es)

involving punishment by death

Catalan: capital (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 致命的 (zh) (jìmìng de)
Dutch: doodstraf (nl), dood (nl)
Finnish: kuolemalla rangaistava
French: capital (fr) m, capitale (fr) f
German: Kapital-
Hindi: मरण (hi) (maraṇ)
Italian: capitale (it)
Japanese: 致命的な (ちめいてきな, chimeiteki na)
Korean: 사형(死刑)의 (sahyeong-ui)
Malayalam: മരണ ശിക്ഷ (maraṇa śikṣa)
Portuguese: capital (pt)
Spanish: capital (es)
Tagalog: kabisera

uppercase

Armenian: մեծատառ (hy) (mecataṙ)
Bulgarian: главен (bg) (glaven)
Catalan: majúscula (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 大寫的／大写的 (zh) (dàxiě de)
Dutch: hoofd(letter)
Finnish: versaali (fi), iso (fi)
French: majuscule (fr)
German: Groß-
Greek: κεφαλαίος (el) (kefalaíos)
Indonesian: kapital (id)
Italian: maiuscolo (it)
Japanese: 大文字の (ja) (おおもじの, ōmoji no)
Korean: 대문자(大文字)의 (daemunja-ui)
Polish: duży (pl) m, duża f
Portuguese: maiúsculo (pt)
Russian: загла́вный (ru) (zaglávnyj), большо́й (ru) (bolʹšój)
Spanish: mayúscula (es)
Volapük: mayudik

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} capital (1); ^{(please verify)} excellente (2)

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun or adjective capital

block capital
block capitals
capital account
capital adequacy
capital appreciation bond
capital asset
capital budgeting
capital city
capital crime
capital equipment
capital expenditure
capital expense
capital flight
capital gain
capital gains tax
capital goods
capital grant
capital intensive
capital-intensive
capitalism
capital loss
capital market
capital market line
capital messuage
capital murder
capital offence
capital offense
capital punishment
capital share
capital ship
capital stock
capital structure
capital surplus
capital value
cultural capital
economic capital
financial capital
human capital
intellectual capital
make capital out of
marginal cost of capital
medial capital
personal capital
provincial capital
real capital
risk capital
share capital
small capital
social capital
state capital
venture capital
weighted-average cost of capital
working capital

Related terms

capita
capitol
capitulate
capitulation
captain
chapiter
chapter

References

Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “capital”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
capital at 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)

capital m (plural capitales)

capital (money)

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

(Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /kə.piˈtal/

(Valencian) IPA^(key): /ka.piˈtal/
Audio (file)

Adjective

capital (feminine capitala, masculine plural capitals, feminine plural capitales)

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

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin capitālis. Doublet of cheptel.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ka.pi.tal/
audio (file)

Noun

capital m (plural capitaux)

capital (money and wealth)

Adjective

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

capital (important)
La peine capitale est abolie en France depuis les années 1980.

Derived terms

navire capital
péché capital
peine capitale

Related terms

capitale
capitaliser
capitalisme

Anagrams

plaçait

Latin

Etymology

Substantive form of capitālis (“mortal, relating to the head”).

Pronunciation

(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.pi.tal/, [ˈkäpɪt̪äɫ̪]

(Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈka.pi.tal/, [ˈkäːpit̪äl]

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).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	capital	capitālia
Genitive	capitālis	capitālium
Dative	capitālī	capitālibus
Accusative	capital	capitālia
Ablative	capitālī	capitālibus
Vocative	capital	capitālia

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

Borrowed from Latin capitālis. Doublet of cabedal and caudal.

Pronunciation

(Brazil) IPA^(key): /ka.piˈtaw/ [ka.piˈtaʊ̯]

(Portugal) IPA^(key): /kɐ.piˈtal/ [kɐ.piˈtaɫ]

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

cabeça
cabedal
cabo
caput
caudal
per capita

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French capital, Latin capitālis.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ka.piˈtal/

Noun

capital n (plural capitaluri)

(economics, business) capital

Declension

Declension of capital

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) capital	capitalul	(niște) capitaluri	capitalurile
genitive/dative	(unui) capital	capitalului	(unor) capitaluri	capitalurilor
vocative	capitalule		capitalurilor

Adjective

capital m or n (feminine singular capitală, masculine plural capitali, feminine and neuter plural capitale)

capital, important

Declension

Declension of capital

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	capital		capitală	capitali	capitale
nominative/ accusative	definite	capitalul		capitala	capitalii	capitalele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	capital		capitale	capitali	capitale
genitive/ dative	definite	capitalului		capitalei	capitalilor	capitalelor

Romansch

Alternative forms

(Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader) chapital
(Puter) chapitêl

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]
Audio (Latin America) (file)
Rhymes: -al
Syllabification: ca‧pi‧tal

Adjective

capital (plural capitales)

capital (important)
Es asunto de capital importancia.
This is a very important matter.
capital (relating to a death sentence)
Lo condenaron a la pena capital.
He was sentenced to the death penalty.

Derived terms

pecado capital

Noun

capital m (plural capitales)

(finance) capital

Derived terms

blanqueo de capitales
capital fijo
capital humano
capitalismo
capitalista
capitalizar
capital riesgo
capital social

Noun

capital f (plural capitales)

capital (city)

capital

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Usage notes

Synonyms

Antonyms

Translations

Adjective

Translations

Derived terms

Related terms

References

Anagrams

Asturian

Etymology

Adjective

Noun

Catalan

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Noun

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Adjective

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

References

Portuguese

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Noun

Derived terms

Adjective

Related terms

Romanian

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Adjective

Declension

Romansch

Alternative forms

Etymology

Noun

Related terms

Spanish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Adjective

Derived terms

Noun

Derived terms

Noun

Further reading