Definition

1. Verb:
   • To convert into capital: To treat a cost as a capital investment rather than an expense, or to convert a company's assets or earnings into capital.
   • To write in capital letters: To write or print a letter or word using its large, uppercase form.
   • To provide with capital: To supply a business or enterprise with money or assets to operate and grow.
   • To take advantage of: To use a situation or opportunity to gain a benefit.

Usage and Examples

• To convert into capital:

  • The company decided to capitalize the cost of the new factory, spreading the expense over many years.
  • They capitalized the reserve funds to finance the expansion.

• To write in capital letters:

  • Please capitalize the first letter of each sentence.
  • The title was fully capitalized for emphasis.

• To provide with capital:

  • Venture capitalists helped capitalize the new tech startup.
  • The business was adequately capitalized from the beginning.

• To take advantage of:

  • The team capitalized on their opponent's weakness to win the game.
  • She capitalized on her network to find a new job.

Advanced Usage

• Capitalize on something: This is the most common phrasal construction, meaning to use something to one's advantage.
  • A good politician knows how to capitalize on public sentiment.
  • The company capitalized on the trend by launching a new product line.

Variants and Related Words

• Capitalization (noun): The act of capitalizing or the state of being capitalized.

  • The capitalization of interest increased the loan's total cost.
  • Proper capitalization is important in formal writing.

• Capital (noun/adjective): Relating to wealth, assets, or uppercase letters.

  • They needed more capital to start the business. (noun)
  • 'A' is the capital letter of 'a'. (adjective)

Synonyms

• Finance: To provide funding for (for 'provide with capital').
• Exploit: To use selfishly or for one's own ends (for 'take advantage of').
• Fund: To provide money for (for 'provide with capital').

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Capitalize on: To use a situation or opportunity to gain an advantage. This is the primary phrasal verb form.
  • Entrepreneurs must learn to capitalize on emerging market opportunities.

Related Idioms

• To make capital out of something: This idiom is very similar to 'capitalize on,' meaning to use a situation to gain an advantage, often with a slightly negative connotation of exploiting misfortune.
  • The newspaper tried to make political capital out of the minister's error.

Verb

1. convert (a company's reserve funds) into capital
2. consider expenditures as capital assets rather than expenses
3. compute the present value of a business or an income
4. write in capital letters
5. supply with capital, as of a business by using a combination of capital used by investors and debt capital provided by lenders
6. draw advantages from
   • he is capitalizing on her mistake
   • she took advantage of his absence to meet her lover