Capital

[F. capital, L. capitalis capital (in senses 1 & 2), fr. caput head. See Chief, and cf. Capital, n.]

1. Of or pertaining to the head. [Obs.]

Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise
Expect with mortal pain.

2. Having reference to, or involving, the forfeiture of the head or life; affecting life; punishable with death; as, capital trials; capital punishment.

Many crimes that are capital among us.

To put to death a capital offender.

3. First in importance; chief; principal.

A capital article in religion

Whatever is capital and essential in Christianity.

4. Chief, in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation; as, Washington and Paris are capital cities.

5. Of first rate quality; excellent; as, a capital speech or song. [Colloq.]

Capital letter [F, lettre capitale]
(Print.), a leading or heading letter, used at the beginning of a sentence and as the first letter of certain words, distinguished, for the most part, both by different form and larger size, from the small (lower-case) letters, which form the greater part of common print or writing. -- Small capital letters have the form of capital letters and height of the body of the lower-case letters. -- Capital stock, money, property, or stock invested in any business, or the enterprise of any corporation or institution. Abbott.

Syn. -- Chief; leading; controlling; prominent.

cap·i·tal
n. (kăp"ĭ*tal)

[Cf. L. capitellum and capitulum, a small head, the head, top, or capital of a column, dim. of caput head; F. chapiteau, OF. capitel. See chief, and cf. cattle, chattel, chapiter, chapter.]

1. (Arch.) The head or uppermost member of a column, pilaster, etc. It consists generally of three parts, abacus, bell (or vase), and necking. See these terms, and Column.

2. [Cf. F. capilate, fem., sc. ville.]
(Geog.) The seat of government; the chief city or town in a country; a metropolis. «A busy and splendid capital» Macauly.

3. [Cf. F. capital.]
Money, property, or stock employed in trade, manufactures, etc.; the sum invested or lent, as distinguished from the income or interest. See Capital stock, under Capital, a.

4. (Polit. Econ.) That portion of the produce of industry, which may be directly employed either to support human beings or to assist in production. M'Culloch.

Note: When wealth is used to assist production it is called capital. The capital of a civilized community includes fixed capital (i.e. buildings, machines, and roads used in the course of production and exchange) and circulating capital (i.e., food, fuel, money, etc., spent in the course of production and exchange). T. Raleigh.

5. Anything which can be used to increase one's power or influence.

He tried to make capital out of his rival's discomfiture.

6. (Fort.) An imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or other work, into two equal parts.

7. A chapter, or section, of a book. [Obs.]

Holy St. Bernard hath said in the 59th capital.

8. (Print.) See Capital letter, under Capital, a.

Active capital. See under Active, -- Small capital (Print.), a small capital letter; informally referred to (in the plural) as small caps; as, the technical terms are listed in small caps. See under Capital, a. -- To live on one's capital, to consume one's capital without producing or accumulating anything to replace it.

The topmost structural member of a column, pilaster, anta, or the like, often decorated; may support an architrave, 1 or may be surmounted by an impost. See illustrations under the various orders; also see angle capital, basket capital, bracket capital, bud capital, Byzantine capital (illustrated under Byzantine architecture),

capital: nomenclature

capitals

n.

The seat of misgovernment. That which provides the fire, the pot, the dinner, the table and the knife and fork for the anarchist; the part of the repast that himself supplies is the disgrace before meat. Capital Punishment, a penalty regarding the justice and expediency of which many worthy persons -- including all the assassins -- entertain grave misgivings.

Not to be confused with Capitol (disambiguation).

Look up capital in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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Capital may refer to:

Contents 1 Political, Economics, and Financial 2 Publications 3 Sociology 4 Colleges, Seminaries, and Universities 5 Other 6 See also

Political, Economics, and Financial

• Capital (political), the area of a country, province, region, or state, regarded as enjoying primary status, usually but not always the seat of the government
• Capital (economics), a factor of production which is not wanted for itself but for its ability to help in producing other goods
• Financial capital, any form of wealth capable of being employed in the production of more wealth
  • Working capital, short term capital needed by the company to finance its operations
  • Capital requirement or "bank capital", the requirement that banks keep certain monetary reserves
  • Political capital, means by which a politician or political party may gain support or popularity
  • Five Capitals, a model of sustainable development developed by the organization Forum for the Future
    • Financial capital, money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to make products or provide services
    • Infrastructural capital, means of production other than natural capital.
    • Human capital, workers' skills and abilities as regards their contribution to an economy
    • Natural capital, the resources of an ecosystem that yields a flow of goods and services into the future
    • Social capital, the value of social networks to society and the human economy

Publications

• Capital (French magazine), a French-language magazine
• Capital (German magazine), a German-language magazine
• The Capital, a daily newspaper based in Annapolis, Maryland, USA
• Capital (newspaper), a Bulgarian business-oriented weekly newspaper
• Capital (Romanian newspaper), a Romanian business-oriented weekly newspaper
• Das Kapital, by Karl Marx
• Capital Ethiopia, also known as Capital, an Ethiopian business-oriented weekly English-language newspaper

Sociology

• Cultural capital, forms of knowledge, valued by a society
• Social capital, the advantages available to a person or group of people through their position in a network of relationships

Colleges, Seminaries, and Universities

• Capital College, also called Penn State Harrisburg, is an undergraduate college and graduate school of the Pennsylvania State University with its main campus located in Middletown, Pennsylvania
• Capital Community College, a community college in Hartford, Connecticut
• Capital Bible Seminary, the seminary component of Washington Bible College with its main campus in Lanham, Maryland
• Capital University, a four-year private university in Columbus, Ohio
• Capitol College, a private, non-profit, and non-sectarian college located just south of Laurel, Maryland

Other

• Capital Airlines (UK), an airline operating from the UK from 1987 to 1992
• Capital (architecture), the crowning member of a pillar or column
• Capital (fortification), a proportion of a bastion
• Capital letter, an upper-case letter in a writing system
• Capital punishment, the sentence of death
• Washington Capitals, a National Hockey League Team (USA)
• Edinburgh Capitals, a Scottish ice-hockey team
• Edmonton Capitals, a baseball team
• 95.8 Capital FM, a radio station in London
• The Capitals, a Canadian rock band
• Capitals (typeface), a small-caps serif typeface

See also

• List of national capitals
• Capitalism
• Capitol (disambiguation)
• Capitol City (disambiguation)

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