Definition

1. Noun:

   • Wealth in the form of money or assets used to produce more wealth: "Capital" refers to financial resources, property, or other assets owned by a person, business, or organization that are used to generate income or investment.
   • A city serving as the seat of government: "Capital" denotes the primary city of a country or region where its government is located.
   • An uppercase letter: "Capital" refers to a large form of a letter (e.g., A, B, C), used as the first letter in sentences, proper names, or for emphasis.
   • The top part of a column in architecture: In classical architecture, "capital" is the decorative head of a column that supports the structure above it.

2. Adjective:

   • Primary, most important, or leading: "Capital" describes something of chief importance or primary concern.
   • Excellent, first-rate: In older or more formal use, "capital" can describe something as very good or splendid.
   • Relating to the death penalty: "Capital" pertains to crimes or punishment involving death.
   • Uppercase: "Capital" describes a letter written in its large form.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Wealth):
  • The company needs more capital to expand its operations.
  • He invested his capital in the stock market.
• Noun (City):
  • London is the capital of the United Kingdom.
  • The state capital is often the center of political activity.
• Noun (Letter):
  • Always start a sentence with a capital.
  • The word "English" begins with a capital 'E'.
• Adjective (Primary):
  • The capital issue in the debate was economic policy.
  • Our capital objective is to ensure customer safety.
• Adjective (Excellent):
  • That was a capital idea!
  • We had a capital time at the party.
• Adjective (Death-related):
  • Murder is a capital offense in some jurisdictions.
  • The country has abolished capital punishment.

Advanced Usage

• "Capital" in Economics: Refers to factors of production (goods used to produce other goods) or financial assets. It is a core concept distinguishing it from labor or land.
  • Human capital refers to the skills and knowledge possessed by individuals.
  • Venture capital is funding provided to startup companies.
• "To make capital out of something": To use a situation to one's own advantage.
  • The politician made capital out of his opponent's mistake.

Variants and Related Words

• Capitalize (verb): To provide with capital; to write or print in capital letters; to take advantage of (as in "capitalize on an opportunity").
• Capitalism (noun): An economic system based on private ownership of capital.
• Capitalist (noun/adjective): A person who invests capital; pertaining to capitalism.
• Capitalization (noun): The act of capitalizing; the total capital of a business.

Synonyms

• Noun (Wealth): funds, finance, assets, resources, investment.
• Noun (City): seat of government, administrative center.
• Noun (Letter): uppercase letter, majuscule.
• Adjective (Primary): principal, chief, main, foremost, primary.
• Adjective (Excellent): splendid, excellent, first-rate, superb.

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs/Idioms)

• Capital gains: Profit from the sale of property or an investment.
• Capital expenditure: Money spent by a business on acquiring or maintaining fixed assets.
• With a capital 'X': Used for emphasis to stress a quality (e.g., "He is Trouble with a capital T").
• Capital flight: The large-scale movement of financial assets and capital from a country.

Adjective

1. uppercase
   • capital A
   • great A
   • many medieval manuscripts are in majuscule script
2. of primary importance
   • our capital concern was to avoid defeat
3. first-rate
   • a capital fellow
   • a capital idea

Noun

1. the upper part of a column that supports the entablature
2. a book written by Karl Marx (1867) describing his economic theories
3. the federal government of the United States
4. a center that is associated more than any other with some activity or product
   • the crime capital of Italy
   • the drug capital of Columbia
5. one of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing proper names and sometimes for emphasis; capitals were kept in the upper half of the type case and so became known as upper-case letters"
   • printers once kept the type for capitals and for small letters in separate cases
6. a seat of government
7. wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value
8. assets available for use in the production of further assets