Definition of 'capital'
Word forms: plural capitals
1. uncountable noun
2. uncountable noun
3. uncountable noun
4. countable noun
The capital of a country is the city or town where its government or legislature meets.
5. countable noun
6. countable noun
7. adjective [ADJ n]
9. See also working capital
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
British English pronunciation
American English pronunciation
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Word Frequency
capital in American English 1
adjective
1.
involving or punishable by death (originally by decapitation)
a capital offense
2.
most important or most serious; principal; chief
a capital virtue
3.
of most political importance, as being the seat of government
a capital city
4.
of or having to do with capital, or wealth
5.
capital letter first-rate; excellent
a capital idea
noun
7.
a city or town that is the official seat of government of a state, nation, etc.
8.
a city where a certain industry, activity, etc. is centered
the rubber capital
9.
wealth (money or property) owned or used in business by a person, corporation, etc.
10.
an accumulated stock of such wealth or its value
11.
wealth, in whatever form, used or capable of being used to produce more wealth
12.
any source of benefit or assistance
SIMILAR WORDS: chief
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word Frequency
capital in American English 1
(ˈkæpɪtl)
noun
1.
the city or town that is the official seat of government in a country, state, etc
Tokyo is the capital of Japan
2.
a city regarded as being of special eminence in some field of activity
New York is the dance capital of the world
3. See capital letter
4.
the wealth, whether in money or property, owned or employed in business by an individual, firm, corporation, etc
5.
an accumulated stock of such wealth
6.
any form of wealth employed or capable of being employed in the production of more
wealth
7. Accounting
a.
assets remaining after deduction of liabilities; the net worth of a business
b.
the ownership interest in a business
8.
any source of profit, advantage, power, etc.; asset
His indefatigable drive is his greatest capital
9.
capitalists as a group or class (distinguished from labor)
High taxation has reduced the spending power of capital
adjective
SYNONYMS 4. principal, investment, assets, stock. 11. prime, primary, first. The adjectives capital, chief, major, principal apply to a main or leading representative of a kind. capital may mean larger or more prominent; it may also suggest preeminence or excellence:
capital letter, idea, virtue, etc. chief means leading, highest in office or power: the chief clerk. major may refer to greatness of importance, number, or quantity: a major operation, the major part of a population. principal refers to most distinguished, influential, or foremost: principal officer. ANTONYMS 11. trivial, minor.USAGE The noun capital refers to a city or town that is the seat of government; to a capital letter as opposed
to a lowercase letter; and to wealth or resources. The noun capitol refers primarily to the building in Washington, D.C., in which Congress sits or to
similar buildings used by state legislatures10.
pertaining to financial capital
capital stock
11.
principal; highly important
This guide offers suggestions of capital interest to travelers
12.
chief, esp. as being the official seat of government of a country, state, etc
the capital city of France
13.
excellent or first-rate
a capital hotel
a capital fellow
14. See capital letter
15.
involving the loss of life
capital punishment
16.
punishable by death
a capital crime
a capital offender
17.
fatal; extremely serious
a capital error
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
capitalness noun
Word origin
[1175–1225; ME; (adj.) (‹ AF) ‹ L capitālis of the head (capit-, s. of caput head, + -ālis -al1); (n.) ‹ ML capitāle wealth, n. use of neut. of capitālis (adj.)]Word Frequency
capital in American English 2
(ˈkæpɪtl)
noun
Architecture
the distinctively treated upper end of a column, pier, or the like
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1250–1300; ME capitale head (n. use of neut. of L adj.) for L capitellum, equiv. to capit- (s. of caput) head + -ellum dim. suffix]Word Frequency
capital in British English 1
noun
1.
a.
the seat of government of a country or other political unit
b.
(as modifier)
a capital city
2.
material wealth owned by an individual or business enterprise
3.
wealth available for or capable of use in the production of further wealth, as by
industrial investment
4. See make capital of
6. accounting
a.
b.
the nominal value of the authorized or issued shares
c.
(as modifier)
capital issues
8.
a.
a capital letter
Abbreviation: cap., capb.
(as modifier)
capital B
9. See with a capital letter
adjective
13.
of, relating to, or designating the large modern majuscule letter used chiefly as the initial letter in personal names and place names and other uniquely specificatory nouns,
and often for abbreviations and acronyms
Compare small (sense 9) See also upper case Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C13: from Latin capitālis (adj) concerning the head, chief, from caput head; compare Medieval Latin capitāle (n) wealth, from capitālis (adj)
Word Frequency
capital in British English 2
noun
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C14: from Old French capitel, from Late Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput head
Word Frequency
capital in Finance
(kæpɪtəl)
noun
Word familycapitalcapitalizecapitalization(Finance: General)
capital account, capital employed, capital expenditure, capital gains, capital lease, capital loss, capital stock, paid-in capital, seed capital, share capital, venture capital, weighted average cost of capital, working capital Capital is money that you use to start a business.
They provide capital for small businesses.
The value of invested capital is equal to the value of the operating business enterprise.
Capital is money that you use to start a business.
Collins COBUILD Key Words for Finance. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
capital in Accounting
(kæpɪtəl)
noun
Word familycapitalcapitalizationcapitalize(Accounting: Investing)
capital account, capital expense, capital gain , capital gain , capital lease, capital loss, capital stock, paid-in capital, return of capital, return on capital, weighted average cost of capital, working capital Capital is money that you use to start a business.
They provide capital for the start-up of small businesses.
Companies are having difficulty in raising capital.
Capital is money that you use to start a business.
Collins COBUILD Key Words for Accounting. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Examples of 'capital' in a sentence
capital
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In other languages
capital
British English: capital
/ˈkæpɪtl/ NOUN
money Capital is money that you use to start a business.
Companies are having difficulty raising capital.
- American English: capital /ˈkæpɪtəl/
- Arabic: عَاصِمَة
- Brazilian Portuguese: capital
- Chinese: 首都
- Croatian: kapital
- Czech: kapitál
- Danish: kapital
- Dutch: kapitaal
- European Spanish: capital
- Finnish: pääkaupunki
- French: capital
- German: Hauptstadt
- Greek: κεφάλαιο
- Italian: capitale
- Japanese: 首都
- Korean: 수도 도시
- Norwegian: hovedstad
- Polish: kapitał
- European Portuguese: capital
- Romanian: capital
- Russian: стартовый капитал city
- Spanish: capital
- Swedish: huvudstad
- Thai: เงินทุน
- Turkish: başkent
- Ukrainian: капітал
- Vietnamese: vốn
British English: capital
/ˈkæpɪtl/ NOUN
city The capital of a country is the main city, where the country's leaders work.
Paris is the capital of France.
- American English: capital /ˈkæpɪtəl/
- Arabic: عَاصِمَة
- Brazilian Portuguese: capital
- Chinese: 首都
- Croatian: glavni grad
- Czech: hlavní město
- Danish: hovedstad
- Dutch: hoofdstad
- European Spanish: capital
- Finnish: pääkaupunki
- French: capitale ville
- German: Hauptstadt
- Greek: πρωτεύουσα
- Italian: capitale
- Japanese: 首都
- Korean: 수도
- Norwegian: hovedstad
- Polish: stolica
- European Portuguese: capital
- Romanian: capitală
- Russian: столица
- Spanish: capital ciudad
- Swedish: huvudstad
- Thai: เมืองหลวง
- Turkish: başkent
- Ukrainian: столиця
- Vietnamese: thủ đô
British English: capital
/ˈkæpɪtl/ NOUN
letter A capital is a big letter of the alphabet, for example A or R.
- American English: capital /ˈkæpɪtəl/
- Arabic: حَرْفٌ كَبِير
- Brazilian Portuguese: letra maiúscula
- Chinese: 大写字母
- Croatian: veliko slovo
- Czech: velké písmeno
- Danish: stort bogstav
- Dutch: hoofdletter
- European Spanish: mayúscula
- Finnish: iso alkukirjain
- French: capitale lettre
- German: Großbuchstabe
- Greek: κεφαλαίο
- Italian: maiuscola
- Japanese: 大文字
- Korean: 대문자
- Norwegian: versal
- Polish: wielka litera
- European Portuguese: letra maiúscula
- Romanian: majusculă
- Russian: заглавная буква
- Spanish: mayúscula
- Swedish: stor bokstav
- Thai: ตัวอักษรพิมพ์ใหญ่
- Turkish: büyük harf
- Ukrainian: велика літера
- Vietnamese: chữ in hoa
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Definition of capital from the Collins English Dictionary
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