capitalとは

語源

From Middle English capital, borrowed from Latin capitālis (“of the head”) (in sense “head of cattle”), from caput (“head”) (English cap). Use in trade and finance originated in Medieval economies when a common but expensive transaction involved trading heads of cattle.

Compare chattel and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

発音

• (英国発音) IPA^(key): /ˈkæp.ɪ.təl/
• Homophone: capitol

名詞

capital (countable かつ uncountable, 複数形 capitals)

1. (uncountable, economics) Already-produced durable goods available for use as a factor of production, such as steam shovels (equipment) and office buildings (structures).
2. (uncountable, business, finance, insurance) Money and wealth. The means to acquire goods and services, especially in a non-barter system.

   He does not have enough capital to start a business.

3. (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.
   • 2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

     From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. […]   But viewed from high up in one of the growing number of skyscrapers in Sri Lanka’s capital, it is clear that something extraordinary is happening: China is creating a shipping hub just 200 miles from India’s southern tip.

   Washington D.C. is the capital of the United States of America.

   The Welsh government claims that Cardiff is Europe’s youngest capital.

4. (countable) The most important city in the field specified.
   • 2010 September, Charlie Brennan, "Active Athletes", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 83:

     Hollywood is the film capital, New York the theater capital, Las Vegas the gambling capital.

5. (countable) An uppercase letter.
6. (countable, architecture) The uppermost part of a column.
7. (uncountable) Knowledge; awareness; proficiency.

   Interpreters need a good amount of cultural capital in order to function efficiently in the profession.

8. (countable, by extension) The chief or most important thing.

使用する際の注意点

The homophone capitol refers only to a building, usually one that houses the legislative branch of a government, and often one located in a capital city.

同意語

• (An uppercase letter): caps (in the plural), majuscule

反意語

• (An uppercase letter): minuscule

形容詞

capital (not comparable)

1. Of prime importance.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Atterbury

     a capital article in religion

   • 1852, Isaac Taylor, Saturday Evening

     whatever is capital and essential in Christianity

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. (comparable, Britain, dated) Excellent.

   That is a capital idea!

4. Involving punishment by death.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Jonathan Swift

     many crimes that are capital among us

   • (Can we date this quote?) Milton

     to put to death a capital offender

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, p. 517:

     Some 1,600 priests were deported, for example, while the total number of capital victims of the military commissions down to 1799 was only around 150.

5. Uppercase.

   Antonym: lower-case

   One begins a sentence with a capital letter.

6. Of or relating to the head.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Milton

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

派生語

関連する語

参照

• “capital” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
• capital at OneLook Dictionary Search

アナグラム

• palatic, placita