capital

Noun (1)

capital (countable and uncountable, plural capitals)

1. (uncountable) Money and wealth: the means to acquire or produce goods and services, especially in a non-barter system.
   • Near-synonym: assets
   • He does not have enough capital to start a business.

   Synonyms:

   asset

2. (uncountable) Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as tools and bulldozers (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
   • Near-synonym: assets
   • He pointed out that it takes both labour and capital to produce goods.

   Synonyms:

   asset

3. (uncountable) The capitalist class; investors considered collectively with respect to their societal (economic, political, cultural, etc.) influence.
   • The markets crashing symbolized capital’s discontent with the tax reforms passed.
   • He warned us darkly that capital will never be sated.
4. (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.
5. (countable) The most important city in the field specified.
   • Hollywood is the film capital, New York the theater capital, Las Vegas the gambling capital.2010 September, Charlie Brennan, "Active Athletes", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 83
6. (countable) An uppercase letter.

   Synonyms:

   caps, majuscule

   Antonyms:

   minuscule

7. (uncountable) Knowledge; awareness; proficiency.
   • Interpreters need a good amount of cultural capital in order to function efficiently in the profession.
8. (broadly, countable) The chief or most important thing.

Adjective

capital (not comparable)

1. Of prime importance.
   • a capital article in religion1708, Francis Atterbury, Fourteen Sermons Preach'd on Several Occasions, Preface
   • whatever is capital and essential in Christianity1852, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening
2. Chief (in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation).
   • London and Paris are capital cities.
3. (UK, comparable, dated, not comparable) Excellent.
   • a capital fellow
   • That is a capital idea!
4. (crime) Punishable by, or involving punishment by, death.
   • capital punishment; capital murder
   • 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.1709, [Jonathan Swift], A Project for the Advancement of Religion, and the Reformation of Manners. […], London: […] Benj[amin] Tooke, […], →OCLC, pages 53–54
5. Uppercase.
   • One begins a sentence with a capital letter.

   Synonyms:

   majuscular, uppercase

   Antonyms:

   lower-case

   1. Used to emphasise greatness or absoluteness.
      • You're a genius with a capital G!
      • He's dead with a capital D!
6. Of or relating to the head.
   • Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise / Expect with mortal pain.1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...

Interjection

1. (dated, slang) used as an expression of approval, satisfaction, or delight.
   • That's an amazing idea! Capital!
   • "Capital! And I shall soon get a bonus."1918, Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by Constance Garnett, White Nights, page 83

Noun (2)

capital (plural capitals)

1. (countable) The uppermost part of a column.
   • But a great wonder of this chamber, and a marvel to behold, was how the capital of every one of the four-and-twenty pillars was hewn from a single precious stone, carved by the hand of some sculptor of long ago into the living form of a monster: […]1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 3

   Synonyms:

   chapiter

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Capital

Capital

1. The Capital Airlines, which operated as a trunk carrier in the United States before merging with United Airlines in 1961.
   • Fornasero had been a pilot for almost 19 years and joined Capital in 1941. He spent three years as a pilot for the Air Force during World War II and then rejoined the airline.2010 January 18, Mary Franklyn, “Looking Back: Muskegon pilot, 49 passengers and crew perish in 1960 airliner crash”, in MLive, archived from the original on 17 Jan 2023

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Capital

Capital

1. A governorate in northern Bahrain.