capital

cap|i|tal¹ W1S3 [ˈkæpıtl] n

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1¦(city)¦

2¦(money)¦

3¦(letter)¦

4¦(centre of activity)¦

5 make capital from/out of something

6¦(building)¦

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[Sense: 1, 3-4; Date: 1600-1700; Origin: CAPITAL²]

[Sense: 2,5; Date: 1600-1700; : French; Origin: Italian capitale, from Latin capitalis; CAPITAL²]

[Sense: 6; Date: 1200-1300; : Old North French; Origin: capitel, from Late Latin capitellum, from Latin caput; CAPITAL²]

1.) ¦(CITY)¦

an important city where the main government of a country, state etc is

▪ Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States

2.) ¦(MONEY)¦ [singular, U]

money or property, especially when it is used to start a business or to produce more wealth

▪ The government is eager to attract foreign capital.

→↑working capital, ↑venture capital

3.) ¦(LETTER)¦

a letter of the alphabet written in its large form as it is, for example, at the beginning of someone's name

→↑lower case, upper case ↑upper case

4.) ¦(CENTRE OF ACTIVITY)¦

a place that is a centre for an industry, business, or other activity

▪ Hollywood is the capital of the movie industry.

5.) make capital from/out of sth

to use a situation or event to help you get an advantage

6.) ¦(BUILDING)¦ technical

the top part of a ↑column (=a long stone post used in some buildings)

capital ²

capital² W3S3 adj

[Date: 1100-1200; : Latin; Origin: capitalis, from caput 'head']

1.) a capital letter is one that is written or printed in its large form

→↑lower case, upper case ↑upper case

▪ capital 'B'

2.) relating to money that you use to start a business or to make more money

▪ capital investments

3.) capital offence/crime

an offence that is punished by death

4.) trouble with a capital T, fast with a capital F etc informal

used with any word in order to emphasize that you are talking about an extreme type of something

5.) old-fashioned excellent