What does "capital" mean?

1. (government city) the most important city in a country, where the government is located. 2. (uppercase letter) a large letter used at the start of a sentence or a name. 3. (money and assets) money or property used to start a business or produce more wealth. 4. (top of a column) the decorated part at the very top of a stone pillar. 5. (death penalty) describing a crime that can be punished by death. 6. (excellent) an old-fashioned way to say something is very good. 7. (uppercase) written as a large letter.

capital — meaning, definition & examples

Q: Is it correct to say "You must start names with capital."?

No — say "You must start names with a capital letter.". While 'capital' can be a noun, it is more common for learners to use the phrase 'capital letter' in this context.

Word

01government city

A1 · Beginner Countable noun Politics

n. the most important city in a country, where the government is located.

n. the city or town that functions as the seat of government and administrative center of a country or region.

“Paris is the capital of France and its largest city.”

“While many assume Sydney is the capital of Australia, the seat of government is actually located in Canberra.”

Synonyms

seat center

02uppercase letter

A1 · Beginner Countable noun

n. a large letter used at the start of a sentence or a name.

n. an uppercase letter as opposed to a lowercase one; used for proper nouns and sentence initials.

“Remember to start every person's name with a capital.”

“The manuscript was written entirely in block capitals, making it difficult to distinguish between proper names and general vocabulary.”

Pitfall

You must start names with capital.

You must start names with a capital letter.

While 'capital' can be a noun, it is more common for learners to use the phrase 'capital letter' in this context.

Synonyms

uppercasemajuscule

Antonyms

lowercase

03money and assets

B1 · Intermediate Uncountable noun Finance

n. money or property used to start a business or produce more wealth.

n. wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization or available for a purpose such as starting a company.

“The company needs more capital to open a second office.”

“The startup struggled to secure enough venture capital to move their prototype into the mass-production phase.”

Synonyms

wealth funds assets

Antonyms

debt

04top of a column

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Technical

n. the decorated part at the very top of a stone pillar.

n. the distinct uppermost part of a column or pilaster, often decorated according to a specific architectural order.

“The ancient Greek temple had beautiful carvings on every capital.”

“The architect specified Corinthian capitals for the facade to provide a more ornate aesthetic than the simpler Doric style used in the courtyard.”

Synonyms

head crown

Antonyms

base

05death penalty

B2 · Upper Intermediate Law Formal

adj. describing a crime that can be punished by death.

adj. relating to or being a crime that is punishable by death.

“In some countries, murder is still a capital offense.”

“The debate over capital punishment often centers on whether the state has the moral authority to execute its citizens.”

Synonyms

fatal

06excellent

C1 · Advanced British English · Archaic

adj. an old-fashioned way to say something is very good.

adj. an intensive used to express excellence or high approval; now largely restricted to specific dialects or period mimicry.

“That is a capital idea for a party.”

“The colonel remarked that it was a capital dinner, though the younger guests found his phrasing rather quaint.”

Synonyms

excellent splendid superb

Antonyms

awful

07uppercase

A2 · Elementary

adj. written as a large letter.

adj. pertaining to or being an uppercase letter.

“The title of the book was written in capital letters.”

“The legal document required the applicant to sign their name in capital letters to ensure legibility.”

Synonyms

uppercase

Antonyms

lowercase

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “capital” in context.

01. capital city 02. capital punishment 03. capital expenditure 04. economic capital 05. human capital 06. social capital

capital vs capitol

Capital is the city, the money, or the letter; capitol is the physical building where lawmakers meet.

RememberCapitol with an 'o' is the dOme of the building.

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. Compare chattel and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”. Doublet of cattle and chattel.

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.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

VERB

capitalize(B2)

NOUN

capital(A1)

ADJECTIVE