capitaladj.n.²

Brit.

/ˈkapᵻtl/, U.S.

/ˈkæpədl/

Forms: Middle English capitle, Middle English captal, Middle English captel, Middle English capytalle, Middle English–1500s capitale, Middle English–1500s capytal, Middle English–1600s capitall, Middle English–1600s capitalle, Middle English–1600s capytall, Middle English– capital, 1500s captall, 1600s capitoll, 1600s cappitall, 1700s capitol; also Scottish pre-1700 capitale, pre-1700 capytale, pre-1700 capytalle.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French capital; Latin capitālis.

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman capitall, capitale, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French capital, Middle French cappital (French capital ) (adjective) of or relating to the head (late 12th cent.), (of a letter) placed at the beginning of a passage (late 12th cent: see note), of or relating to the death penalty (c1193 in capital sentence , or earlier), of or relating to life (c1255), (of a person) leading, important (a1334), (of a crime) punishable by death (1378 in crime capital ), main, chief, principal (a1410), (of a town) chief, principal (a1417), (noun) face value of a debt or income (1567), real or financial assets collectively (1606), (feminine noun) capital city (see note), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin capitālis (of punishment) involving the loss of head or life, (of criminal offences) punishable by death, involving the loss of civil rights, (of persons) worthy of death, (of a judge) appointed to execute sentences, involving danger to life, fatal, deadly, dangerous, (of enemies) deadly, moral, first-rate, fine, in post-classical Latin also (of a city) chief, principal (10th cent. in a British source), (of a person) leading, important (12th cent.), of or relating to the head (c1250 in a British source), at the end or top (c1266, 1348 in British sources) < capit- , caput head (see caput n.) + -ālis -al suffix¹. Compare Catalan capital (1272), Spanish capital (13th cent.), Portuguese capital (13th cent.), Italian capitale (13th cent.; earliest as noun).Old French capital shows an early medieval borrowing < Latin; the direct Old French descendant of the Latin word is chatel , chetel (see chattel n.). With edre capitale (in quot. ?c1225 at sense A. 1) compare Anglo-Norman and Middle French veine capitale (13th cent. as veine capital in the Anglo-Norman version of Ancrene Riwle). With capital enemy (see sense A. 2) compare Middle French, French ennemi capital (1378 as anemi capital ) With capital letter (see sense A. 5) compare post-classical Latin littera capitalis (c1178, c1362 in British sources), Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French lettre capitale (late 12th cent.). With use as noun in sense B. 1 compare later post-classical Latin capitalis capital letter (c1503 in a British source), Middle French, French capitale (1567). In sense B. 2a after Middle French capitalle (feminine) capital city (1475; French capitale ), short for cité capitalle , etc.; compare earlier capital city n. at Compounds 1b and later capital town n. at Compounds 1b, and compare also the French parallels cited at those lemmas.

A. adj.

I. Relating to the head.

†1. Of or relating to the head or top. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [adjective]

capital?c1225

cephalic1599

cephalical1599

cephalistic18..

proral1894

the world > space > relative position > high position > [adjective] > of or relating to the top

capital1486

apical1828

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 189 Wið uten þe edren capitale þe bledden onhis heaued.

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 5 Of capitale medecenes [L. medicinis capitalibus] & instrumentez wyþ which is made operacioun in þe woundes of þe heued.

1486 Blasyng of Armys sig. fj^v, in Bk. St. Albans Sparris..put..by the maner of an hede, and ij syche sparris or cheuerons ionyt togedyr make a capitall sygne.

?1570 tr. Shepardes Kalendar (rev. ed.) xiv. sig. H.vi On the sommet of the head is a bone that couereth the braine, the which Shepards call the capitall bone.

1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. f. 50^v/1 Indeede noe Capitalle woundes are to be esteemed smalle.

?1624 G. Chapman tr. Βατραχομυομαχια in tr. Crowne Homers Wks. 9 Their parts Capitall They hid.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 383 His [sc. the Serpent's] capital bruise.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. xiii. 34 A Pillar Composed in the Capital part.

2. Of an enemy or enmity: deadly, mortal. Now archaic.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of hate or enmity

deadlyc1275

capital1395

mortalc1425

Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) (1851) 123 To constreine him to worche with his capital enemy at the wil of his capital enemy.

1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) iii. 2 Ye lord off Lorne..Yat wes capitale ennymy To ye king.

c1503 ( Complaynte Duke of Glouceter in R. Arnold Chron. f. cx^v/1 A capital enymyte lyke to haue endured for euer.

1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xxviii. f. 58 In qualities, he was the Capitall enemie of mankinde.

1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 172 The corruption of the wicked, and of the powers of Sathan our capitall aduersary.

1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon i. iii. 109 The Bishop was his capital Enemy, and a man from whom of all others he had receiv'd the most sensible injuries.

1754 D. Hume Hist. Great Brit. I. liv. 162 The capital enemy of their country.

1826 J. Browning tr. L. Pignotti Hist. Tuscany (new ed.) III. xi. 380 Trivulzio, capital enemy of the Moor..approached Italy.

1852 T. W. Allies St. Peter ix. 284 Declaring himself signally a capital foe and traitor of Christ and our religion.

1902 Internat. Monthly 5 267 So far is it from being an apotheosis of the traditional Satan that one of the persons chiefly eulogized in it is his capital adversary, Martin Luther.

1967 M. Gruber Eng. Rev. 42 Whoever brought in innovations of religion resembling Catholicism should be considered a capital enemy of the state.

1993 Speculum 68 1010 The sentence was given by the bishop of Paris, who was a capital enemy of the duke.

3. Involving loss of the head or life.

a. That causes death, fatal. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective]

deadlyc893

deathlyOE

deathfula1250

mortalc1390

capitalc1426

exitialc1475

fey1488

mortuala1500

perishinga1500

fatal?1518

ferial1528

mortiferousa1538

deadc1540

exitious?1545

deathlike1548

mortifying1555

starvingc1600

lethal1604

speedingc1604

vital1612

irrecoverable1614

feral1621

lethiferous1651

mortific1651

mortifical1657

daggering1694

exitiose1727

fateful1764

kill-devil1831

unsurvivable1839

lethiferal1848

tachythanatous1860

c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 100 (MED) With v captel wondis fore me, synful, Þou were i-paynd apon þe cros.

1534 W. Marshall tr. Erasmus Playne & Godly Expos. Commune Crede f. 134 That, which hath ben sayde of auarice & y^e desyre of money or ryches: the same is to be thought & iudged of al vices, namely capitale & deadly.

1538 tr. Erasmus Prepar. to Deathe sig. C^v A man is sycke of a capitall and mortall syckenesse.

1593 R. Cosin Apol. for Sundrie Proc. (rev. ed.) iii. ix. 120 They giue such an oath, not only, where some corporall punishment is to be inflicted,..but, where it is capitall to the partie, or tendeth to the mutilation of limmes.

a1626 F. Bacon Considerations Warre with Spaine in Certaine Misc. Workes (1629) 6 A Warre, which is Capitall to Thousands.

1686 Bp. G. Burnet Some Lett. conc. Switzerland i. 26 The Popish Cantons have made Laws, that it shall be capital to any to change their Religion.

1701 J. Collier tr. Marcus Aurelius Conversat. with Himself 11 In the Reign of Adrian an excellency of almost any kind was sometimes Capital to the Owner.

1910 Minutes Evid. 1st Rep. to Legislature State of N.Y. Comm. Employers' Liability 235/2 A man physically incapable of helping himself is liable to a capital accident.

b. Of a criminal case, sentence, verdict, etc.: involving the death penalty. See also capital punishment n. at Compounds 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > [adjective] > relating to death

mortalc1425

deadly1470

capitalc1475

mortuary1542

parting?1570

deada1586

defunctive1601

lethal1607

deathly1763

deathya1822

c1475 ( in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 519 (MED) Remembre of a noble emperoure the which punysshed his one sonne of capitall payne.

1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. 184^v/1 To haue capytal sentence & be byheded.

1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. iv. f. 25^v They shoulde punishe, either by banishment or capital death.

1583 Ld. Burghley Execution of Iustice sig. B.ii No one was called to any capitall or bloody question upon matters of religion.

1690 W. Temple Ess. Heroick Virtue 46 in Miscellanea: 2nd Pt. A Censor of Justice..without whose approval, no capital Sentences are to be executed.

1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) Persons among the Athenians [sc. Exegetes]..whom the judges used to consult in capital cases.

1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives II. 181/2 Cimon..narrowly escaped a capital sentence.

1836 Q. Rev. July 501 Every indulgence to the criminal in capital cases throughout the code is always stated with this reserve, ‘except in cases of high treason’.

1868 Spectator 19 Dec. 1487 We never remember a capital verdict upon such insufficient evidence.

1900 Green Bag July 376/1 The constitution of Utah provides that, except in capital cases, a jury shall consist of eight men only.

1966 New Statesman 2 Sept. 306/1 Out of seven capital sentences passed at the Winter Assizes..only one was carried out.

2001 H. Collins No Smoke xii. 178 He dreads to think of the bottom landing of C-hall. The row of capital charges awaiting trial.

c. Of an offence, crime, etc.: punishable by death; incurring the death penalty. See also capital murder n. at Compounds 1a.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [adjective] > punishable by death

capital?1531

society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [adjective] > types of crime generally > types of offence according to punishment

penalc1443

capital?1531

purgeable1644

transportable1769

statutable1782

unclergyable1817

non-clergyable1826

extraditable1887

sanctionable1927

imprisonable1971

?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye iii. sig. i7^v Who so ever haue committed a capitale cryme.

1585 in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1892) 33/2 Excluding pardon for any capital offence since the preceding 1st March.

a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 15 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) It is a capitall cryme to devise or purpose the death of your King.

1659 G. Lawson Theo-politica ii. xiii. 206 Many Heathen States made it [sc. Adultery] Capital.

a1688 G. Stradling Serm. & Disc. (1692) 168 The Egyptians made it Capital to affirm that their God Apis was dead.

a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) I. 456 Penal Laws rendring their wilful misbehaviour capital.

1797 W. F. Mavor Hist. Acct. Voy., Trav., & Discov. VIII. 148 Maiming is punished with death, and adultery is capital to both parties.

1827 H. Hallam Constit. Hist. Eng. II. xvii. 686 It was capital to preach even in houses.

1891 T. Edwards Our Country iii. i. 120 Every felony except larceny was made capital on a second offence.

1905 Columbia Law Rev. 5 540 A woman, convicted of a capital crime, was alleged to be quick with child.

1937 C. K. Meek Law & Authority in Nigerian Tribe x. 219 At Onitsha it was a capital offence for any one to have sexual relations with a wife of the Obi.

2003 N.Y. Times Mag. 29 June 30/2 For someone who has committed a capital crime, an I.Q. score can mean the difference, quite literally, between life and death.

d. Of a criminal, convict, etc.: capitally condemned; condemned to death. Also (of a judge): dealing with capital crimes.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > condemned to die

capital1554

society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > judge > [adjective] > dealing with capital crimes

capital1554

1554 J. Proctor Hist. Wyates Rebellion f. 52^v In the capitall traytours, there coulde be but great default, yet in the multitude, she was persuaded to be no malice.

1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. O6 They as Capytall Iudges geue definytiue sentence of lyfe and death.

1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes iii. §60. 295 Putting capitall malefactors to death.

1644 W. Prynne Checke to Brittanicus 4 An impenitent, obdurate, Capitall Delinquent.

1759 J. Lindsay Voy. Coast Afr. xiii. 105 All capital criminals (murderers excepted) might by the king's clemency be sent to work in the mines for life.

1771 Gentleman's Mag. July 332 The following capital convicts, who had been respited, have received his Majesty's mercy on condition of transportation [etc.].

1816 Med. & Physical Jrnl. Mar. 251 A M. Massa, a modeller in plaster, is exhibiting at Paris the beads of famous capital felons.

1889 ‘Zeno’ Irish Minstrelsy in Ireland in '89 146 The victim condemned to the gallows was panegyrized as though he were a martyr and not a capital criminal.

1909 Law Notes Feb. 207/2 The law would never permit the execution of a capital felon without allowing him ample time in which to make spiritual preparation for his death.

1994 Jrnl. Criminal Law & Criminol. 85 236 (note) The use of reduced jury overrides..would allow a capital judge to impose a sentence of life without parole where the jury has advised a death sentence.

2006 M. A. Aldrich Search for Vanishing Beijing vi. 92 The decapitated heads of treasonous capital criminals..were hung in boxes as warnings to potential rebels.

†e. Roman Law. Involving the loss of liberty, exile, the loss of civil rights, or the seizure of property. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > legal right > withdrawal or loss of legal rights > [adjective] > involving loss of rights by conviction

infamous1548

capital1555

infamizing1827

1555 J. Wilkinson tr. L. de Avila y Cuñiga Comm. Wars in Germany sig. S.viij He is content to take awaye the banishment iustlye declared agaynste hym, and not to punyshe hym wyth payne capitall as he hathe deserued.

1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada ii. 130 His brother..banished him (under a capitall paine) for ever returning againe to his Countrey for any occasion whatsoever.

1696 B. Kennett Romæ Antiquæ Notitia ii. iii. xx. 141 Under the Head of Capital Punishments, the Romans reckoned extreme Banishment, because those who underwent that Sentence were in a civil Sence dead.

1774 S. Hallifax Anal. Rom. Civil Law iii. xii. 116 Of Public Judgments, some were 1. Capital; in which the Punishment prescribed was Death: which Death was (1) Natural; such as took away the Life of the Criminal. (2) Civil; such as took away his Liberty, or his Citizenship.

1838 T. Arnold Hist. Rome I. xiv. 289 The punishment of a libeller involved in it a diminutio capitis, and was thus in the Roman sense of the term capital.

1854 P. M. de Colquhoun Summ. Rom. Civil Law III. 696 An incident of capital punishment was the Confiscatio or forfeiture of goods to the State.

4. figurative. Of a defect, error, etc.: fatal, vitally injurious; very serious, radical. Now rare.In later use often passing into sense A. 6a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > grave or serious

heavy971

highOE

earnestfula1400

solemn1420

weighty1489

ponderousa1500

chargeablea1513

serious1531

earnest1533

gravous1535

capitala1538

deep1598

grave1824

a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 85 You have notyd such [faults] as be most capytal.

1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxiii. 120 Immoderate exercise..a very capitall enemie to health.

1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (ii. 10) 429 It is more capitall to smite the master then a stranger.

1667 Bp. J. Taylor 2nd Pt. Dissuasive from Popery i. vii. 221 The Church of Rome..is not the less likely to erre..for thinking she cannot erre; her very thinking and saying this thing, being her most Capital error.

1779 J. Fell Dæmoniacs v. 185 This doctrine is one of the most capital errors in the Christian church, and the parent of endless superstition.

1807 Literary Panorama Mar. 1190 We conclude, by entering our protest against the total want of references; which, in a production of this kind, is a capital omission.

1821 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 14) I. ii. 34 Hannibal's stay at Capua was a capital blemish in his conduct.

1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II I. ii. v. 476 In the outset, he seems to have fallen into a capital error.

1908 Fortnightly 2 Nov. 755 It is a capital fault in a statesman to ignore racial sentiment, national feeling, religious prejudices and convictions.

1955 Times 22 Dec. 7/3 If this was not their main complaint it was a capital mistake to make it appear that it was.

2000 R. Wardy Aristotle in China i. 22 [Humboldt] pays attention to Rosemont's benighted ancestors and neatly dissects their capital mistake.

II. Standing at the head.

5. Formerly of a letter or word: standing at the head of a page, passage, etc. Now of a letter: having the distinctive form and size used to begin a sentence, proper name, etc.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > written character > [adjective] > letter according to position

capitala1382

heada1387

final1530

initial1622

principial1625

subscript1683

mediala1749

superscript1793

adscript1812

epenthetic1831

epenthesized1880

non-final1896

society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [adjective] > large or capital

great1481

capital1584

big1688

majuscule1701

uncial1712

semi-uncial1742

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Job Prol. l. 70 Hauyn þat wiln olde bookys & in rede skynnes with gold & siluer writen or with capital lettres [L. uncialibus].

c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §16. 8 This same bordure is deuyded..with 23 lettres capitals.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Boke yf Eneydos xxii. sig. F.v ^v The grete capitalle lettres of the bygynnynge..of the psalmes and chapytres..ben alle mayde fayre.

?1558 H. Baker tr. O. Fine Rules Vse of Almanackes (new ed.) sig. B.iiii^v The denominations are noted aboue y^e head of euery of the sayd columnes, by the Capital letters which hereafter folowe.

?1565 Table for Shyning of Mone in Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) p. cliv Where ye shal finde a Capital L there begine for the finding of Lent.

1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel Hist. Cambria 9 It is easy for the C. Capitall to creepe in.

1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Dd4^v To write it in such Text and Capitall Letters.

1662 S. Pepys Diary 11 June (1970) III. 106 To have the Capitall words writ with red inke.

1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 6 Capital I is all Stem, except the Base and Topping.

1724 H. Wanley Diary 14 Jan. (1966) II. 267 Leaves in folio, written in fine Capital Letters about 1100 years ago, upon Aegyptian Papyrus.

1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 270 The Admirative part of a Paragraph, as well as of the Interrogatory, is always to begin with a Capital letter.

1811 J. Bannatine in Monthly Mag. 34 429 One very modern improvement in writing and printing..dropping the capital letters, except in the beginning of sentences, etc.

1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth III. x. 214 Few minds are big enough to be just to great A without being unjust to capital B.

1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 643 The upper case, having ninety-eight boxes, contains the capital and small capital letters.

1915 H. G. Wells Res. Magnificent 9 He had found the word ‘Bushido’ written with a particularly flourishing capital letter.

1942 W. Simpson One of our Pilots is Safe ii. 40 At dusk the control officer for the night arrived and arranged a path of small electric glim lamps in the form of a capital L.

1969 S. Hinton Seashore Life S. Calif. 30 The first word, always spelled with a capital initial letter, is..the name representing the genus. The second word, never with a capital initial..is the specific name.

1990 New Yorker 16 July 124/2 Oliver Stone has a taste for blood and fire... Everything is in capital letters.

a. Of a thing: main, principal, chief. Now rare.In quot. ?a1425: the more severe of the two kinds of ophthalmia.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important

mosteOE

foremostc1000

headOE

headlyOE

nexta1200

umest1513

primary1565

headest1577

ruling1590

forward1591

capital1597

of the first magnitude1643

palmary1646

top1647

prepondering1651

headmost1661

home1662

life-and-death1804

palmarian1815

bada1825

key1832

première1844

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > pre-eminence > [adjective]

firsteOE

headOE

highOE

greatc1350

upperestc1374

chief1377

singular1377

principala1382

royalc1425

cardinal1440

pre-eminenta1460

praisea1475

main1480

maina1525

primary1565

captain1566

arch1574

mistressa1586

capital1597

topless1609

primea1616

metropolitan1635

transeminent1660

whole1675

uppermost1680

primus inter pares1688

topping1694

Sudder1787

par excellence1839

banner1840

primatial1892

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of things

principalc1300

principal1417

supremec1550

capital1597

hegemonic1656

vital1810

big time1914

high-level1947

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > other

material1581

capital1597

supreme1791

staminal1845

red meat1968

?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 37^v Obtalmie capitale [?c1425 Paris The cheef obtalmya; L. Obtalmia capitalis] is declared bi heuynez & akyng of the heued.

c1522 T. More Treat. Memorare Nouissima in Wks. (1557) I. 85 Ii. capitall vyces, that is to wit enuye and couityce.

1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast Answere to Horne's Pref. f. 3 M. Horn shal by the very same fathers, councels, and other authorities by him selfe producted so be ouerthrowen in the chief and capital question.

1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 44 Love ys the capitall affection in men and wemen.

c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) II. 134/14 At the fourt and last capitall heid courte.

1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 394 To win from me My capital secret.

a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 136 I observed the wheat on the ground, and that the first, or capital branch, consisted of an upright spire, between two leaves.

1749 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 22 June (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1361 The Last Supper, by Paul Veronese..is reckoned his capital performance.

1815 J. P. Smith Reasons of Protestant Relig. 59 This was the capital theme on which the illustrious Reformers delighted to dwell.

1872 R. W. Dale Ten Commandm. (ed. 3) 7 The old traditions..made Obedience the capital virtue of childhood.

1926 Foreign Affairs 5 15 It [sc. American Isolationist Policy] has been the capital theme in world affairs since the signing of the Armistice.

1962 W. B. Hesseltine Tragic Confl. xxvii. 368 President Lincoln had made the subject of reconstruction the capital topic of his message in December, 1863.

2008 E. A. Rees Life of Guto'r Glyn xiv. 170 Throughout the Middle Ages, in popular thought, if not in theology, meanness or avarice was the capital sin and generosity the capital virtue.

b. Of a town, mansion, estate, monastery, etc.: that is the principal of its kind (in a region, group, etc.); (also) chief, principal, main; important. Hence: designating, of, or relating to a capital city. For capital city; manor, messuage, town, see Compounds 1b.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [adjective] > chief town or capital city

capital1439

metropolitan1555

metropolic?1575

metropolite1591

metropolitical1595

Metro1957

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [adjective] > large or palatial > chief or head

capital1539

1439 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1835) V. 361 (MED) He hath so solemply received his unction and coronne..inne the capital cite therof, grete partie of the pieres of France beyng presend.

1527 in Southwell Visit. (1891) 132 My capitall meas in Ragenhill.

1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII v The saide manour of Hampton courte shall..be the chiefe and capitall place and parte of the saide honour of Hampton courte.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 343 This had been Perhaps thy Capital Seate, from whence had spred All generations.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. 214 The eldest son had the capital fee or principal feud of his father's possessions.

1774 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry I. i. 18 Chained in the cloister, or church, of some capital monastery.

1861 All Year Round 21 Dec. 298/2 In the district of Columbia itself, the capital district of the Union.

1878 tr. in Trans. Shropshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc. Apr. 188 This copy was written in the capital abbey of the monastery of Haughmond by me Master William ap Delwilk.

1923 W. Farrer Honors & Knights' Fees 32 He allowed the priory a moiety of the tithes and lands belonging to it, and a messuage, but not the capital messuage.

1986 Amer. Motorcyclist Dec. 8/1 Several other police agencies in the capital area use them [sc. motorcycles].

2010 E. Morrison Power of Patriarchs ii. iii. 123 He was..offered a post as abbot of a capital monastery, which he refused.

c. Of a person: leading, important. Now historical.Capital Justiciar: see justiciar n. 1c.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of people

mosta1300

principala1382

principal?a1425

capitalc1475

supreme1496

chief1535

leading1631

staple1642

big league1917

high-level1947

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > pre-eminence > [adjective] > specifically of people

chief138.

principalc1385

capitalc1475

grand1539

c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 73 This sergeaunt capitall Buttler.

a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) vi. l. 2285 Off þis lauche ar thre capitale..þe blak prest off Wedalle, þe thayne of Fiff, and þe..[lord] of Abyrnethyne.

1530 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1884) V. 293 Capital Sanctes under God of the aforsaid kirkes.

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxxviii. sig. Ggiv^v The craftie flie: capitall captiteyne, Opening (to the flies) my politik intent, Vnseene to the flies.

1614 T. Adams Diuells Banket v. 213 Diseases, which be Deaths capitall Chirurgions.

1683 London Gaz. No. 1866/4 The Mayor, Aldermen, Bayliff, Capital Burgesses, and Commonalty of..Waymouth.

1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Capital lord..the lord of the fee.

1771 W. Smith Nature & Inst. Govt. I. 461 The king hath one proper court, even as his royal palace, and capital justices, who determine his proper causes.

1811 Risdon's Chorogr. Surv. Devon (new ed.) Addit. 426 A Mayor, assisted by 18 capital burgesses.

1858 R. W. Eyton Antiq. Shropshire VI. 130 Martin and Elina acknowledged a gift thereof [sc. 60 acres of land]..by performance of all services due to the capital Lords of the fees.

1910 W. P. Courtney Eight Friends of Great 30 The patron of this borough was an apothecary called Edmund Wilkins who paid each capital burgess the retaining fee of £30 per annum.

1970 N. Pevsner Cambridgeshire (Buildings of Eng.) (ed. 2) 498 The projecting wing at the back is said..to have been built as a hall for the Capital Burgesses.

2009 W. C. Jordan Tale of Two Monasteries iv. 93 Saving only the homage and service due to capital lords.

d. gen. Prominent; important, significant; particular.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective]

important1444

substantious1483

sore1530

relevantc1540

importing1579

of great (little, etc.) weight1581

grave1594

dear1598

consequentious1634

concerning1641

of concern1651

consequent1659

weighty1662

interesting1711

capital1724

consequential1728

magnitudinous1777

makulu1899

operative1955

a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. G2^v Why maister Brazenhead haue you such a capitall nose.

1605 G. Chapman et al. Eastward Hoe ii. sig. B2^v A very capitall reason. So that you goe to bed late, and rise early to commit drunkennesse?

1724 A. Collins Disc. Grounds Christian Relig. 20 Several capital places in the sacred Writers.

1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. i. i. 5 All history has a capital advantage over every work of fiction.

1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 45. 355 He..espoused the daughter of a capital grocer.

1818 W. Hazlitt Lect. Eng. Poets vi. 218 So capital and undeniable a proof of the author's talents.

1874 J. E. Cairnes Some Leading Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. v. 271 I may venture to point out one capital consideration of a purely economic kind.

1909 J. R. Finlay Cost of Mining xx. 382 Kalgoorlie has one capital advantage in having a much smaller proportion of development work to do.

1965 A. Eden Reckoning 316 Now that the Soviets were under Nazi attack, the railway across the country became of capital importance.

1999 P. R. Jones Studying Parables of Jesus ii. 39 Such understanding of oneself can be found within the parables, a capital reason why they stimulate contemporary response.

e. Of a ship, esp. a warship: suitable for use in the line of battle, of the line; first-rate; of the largest size.Since the early 20th cent. capital ship refers esp. to a battleship or battlecruiser, and since the Second World War (1939–45) also to an aircraft carrier.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [adjective] > first-rate

of first rate1650

capital1654

first rate1671

1654 Mercurius Politicus No. 210. 3566 Some talk as if the States intended to send a capitall Fleet to block up the river of Lisobon.

1665 G. Downing Let. in H. T. Colenbrander Bescheiden uit Vreemde Archieven omtrent Groote Nederlandsche Zeeoorlogen 1652–76 (1919) I. 157 Letters are also to be written to all the admiralties to quicken them on in the equiping the 72 capitall ships that are to be upon the account of the Estates Generall.

1688 London Gaz. No. 2397/4 The Capital Ships are off of Torbay about 4 Leagues from the Shore.

1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade (ed. 2) 317 Tho' we destroyed so many capital Ships of France the two last Wars, yet..in some sence, the Naval Strength of France is rather encreased than diminished.

1757 T. Smollett Compl. Hist. Eng. II. iv. ii. 41 Robert de Humpreville, vice-admiral of England, entered the Frith of Edinburgh, with ten capital ships, and..destroyed the whole naval force of Scotland.

1805 D. Macpherson Ann. Commerce III. 250 They..took from our English East-India company their most important fort..; they also took one of that company's capital ships.

1871 Brett's Illustr. Naval Hist. Great Brit. xiv. 99/1 Benbow sailed with a squadron of twelve capital ships, four bomb-ketches, and two brigantines, to the coast of St. Maloes.

1900 S. R. Gardiner tr. M. de Ruyter in Lett. & Papers relating to First Dutch War II. 68 They are lying between the Isle of Wight and Portland with 45 sail, 12 of which are capital ships.

1919 Daily Tel. 11 Aug. 9/6 The battle-fleet force became a vast assemblage of capital vessels, cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers and submarines.

1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inq.) v. xxx. 426 A capital-ship base at Singapore.

1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 265 The ships lay beneath us—capital ships and cargo vessels.

1991 Japan Forum 3 239 U-boat forces were being massed and losses of capital ships in November were concern enough.

2008 N. Friedman Naval Firepower 299/1 Britain and the United States each emerged with fifteen capital ships.

f. Excellent, outstanding, first-rate. Frequently as an exclamation of approval. Now somewhat dated.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [adjective]

faireOE

bremea1000

goodlyOE

goodfulc1275

noblec1300

pricec1300

specialc1325

gentlec1330

fine?c1335

singulara1340

thrivena1350

thriven and throa1350

gaya1375

properc1380

before-passinga1382

daintiful1393

principala1398

gradelya1400

burlyc1400

daintyc1400

thrivingc1400

voundec1400

virtuousc1425

hathelc1440

curiousc1475

singlerc1500

beautiful1502

rare?a1534

gallant1539

eximious1547

jolly1548

egregious?c1550

jellyc1560

goodlike1562

brawc1565

of worth1576

brave?1577

surprising1580

finger-licking1584

admirablea1586

excellinga1586

ambrosial1598

sublimated1603

excellent1604

valiant1604

fabulous1609

pure1609

starryc1610

topgallant1613

lovely1614

soaringa1616

twanging1616

preclarent1623

primea1637

prestantious1638

splendid1644

sterling1647

licking1648

spankinga1666

rattling1690

tearing1693

famous1695

capital1713

yrare1737

pure and —1742

daisy1757

immense1762

elegant1764

super-extra1774

trimming1778

grand1781

gallows1789

budgeree1793

crack1793

dandy1794

first rate1799

smick-smack1802

severe1805

neat1806

swell1810

stamming1814

divine1818

great1818

slap-up1823

slapping1825

high-grade1826

supernacular1828

heavenly1831

jam-up1832

slick1833

rip-roaring1834

boss1836

lummy1838

flash1840

slap1840

tall1840

high-graded1841

awful1843

way up1843

exalting1844

hot1845

ripsnorting1846

clipping1848

stupendous1848

stunning1849

raving1850

shrewd1851

jammy1853

slashing1854

rip-staving1856

ripping1858

screaming1859

up to dick1863

nifty1865

premier cru1866

slap-bang1866

clinking1868

marvellous1868

rorty1868

terrific1871

spiffing1872

all wool and a yard wide1882

gorgeous1883

nailing1883

stellar1883

gaudy1884

fizzing1885

réussi1885

ding-dong1887

jim-dandy1888

extra-special1889

yum-yum1890

out of sight1891

outasight1893

smooth1893

corking1895

large1895

super1895

hot dog1896

to die for1898

yummy1899

deevy1900

peachy1900

hi1901

v.g.1901

v.h.c.1901

divvy1903

doozy1903

game ball1905

goodo1905

bosker1906

crackerjack1910

smashinga1911

jake1914

keen1914

posh1914

bobby-dazzling1915

juicy1916

pie on1916

jakeloo1919

snodger1919

whizz-bang1920

wicked1920

four-star1921

wow1921

Rolls-Royce1922

whizz-bang1922

wizard1922

barry1923

nummy1923

ripe1923

shrieking1926

crazy1927

righteous1930

marvy1932

cool1933

plenty1933

brahmaa1935

smoking1934

solid1935

mellow1936

groovy1937

tough1937

bottler1938

fantastic1938

readyc1938

ridge1938

super-duper1938

extraordinaire1940

rumpty1940

sharp1940

dodger1941

grouse1941

perfecto1941

pipperoo1945

real gone1946

bosting1947

supersonic1947

whizzo1948

neato1951

peachy-keen1951

ridgey-dite1953

ridgy-didge1953

top1953

whizzing1953

badass1955

wild1955

belting1956

magic1956

bitching1957

swinging1958

ridiculous1959

a treat1959

fab1961

bad-assed1962

uptight1962

diggish1963

cracker1964

marv1964

radical1964

bakgat1965

unreal1965

pearly1966

together1968

safe1970

bad1971

brilliant1971

fabby1971

schmick1972

butt-kicking1973

ripper1973

Tiffany1973

bodacious1976

rad1976

kif1978

awesome1979

death1979

killer1979

fly1980

shiok1980

stonking1980

brill1981

dope1981

to die1982

mint1982

epic1983

kicking1983

fabbo1984

mega1985

ill1986

posho1989

pukka1991

lovely jubbly1992

awesomesauce2001

nang2002

bess2006

amazeballs2009

boasty2009

daebak2009

beaut2013

1713 Bibliotheca Selectissima (title page) There is a Capital Picture of Nicola Poussin, and two Excellent Heads, with three Porto Folio's of Original Italian Drawings.

1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsemanship vi. 26 He clears every thing with his fore legs in a capital stile.

1835 T. Hook Gilbert Gurney I. ii Nobody said capital, or even good, or even tolerable.

1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 97 Capital, Socrates; by the gods, that is truly good.

1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. 234 Dartie himself was in capital form, and talked freely.

1937 J. P. Marquand Late George Apley xxix. 330 I have a new bootlegger. He is really a capital fellow.

1982 R. Davies High Spirits viii. 76 Oh capital, capital! The very best of days, Master!

2005 W. R. Trotter Fires of Pride iv. 79 Oh, yes! Please do, Aunt Largo! I think that's a capital idea!

7. Of or relating to capital (sense B. 3a); serving as a basis for commercial or financial operations. Cf. Compounds 1c.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [adjective] > capital or principal

principal1340

capital1569

1569 J. Peele Pathe Way to Perfectnes f. 13 Directlye before the sayd somme of the capitall stocke in the Inventorie.

1573 T. W. tr. Supplication Prince of Orange to Kinges Maiestie of Spayne sig. C.iv^v The tenth, and twentie penie of the capitall some of all sales.

1600 W. Vaughan Golden-groue ii. xxi. sig. P3 He that receiueth any thing ouer and aboue the capitall summe that was lent, is an vsurer.

1664 tr. F. Charpentier Treat. E.-Indian Trade 58 To reckon from the day whereupon the said Company shall have perfected their First Capital Stock.

1706 Daily Courant 16 Dec. Part of the Capital Sum of 475000 Patacoons due to the King of Prussia by Virtue of the Treaty made at Loo.

1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. ix. 115 The capital stock of Great Britain was not diminished even by the enormous expence of the late war.

1825 R. Southey in Q. Rev. 32 41 Compelled..to encroach largely upon its capital fund.

1884 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 25 689 She may commute into a capital sum..the benefit given to her..by way of annuity.

1895 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 122 234 The engine-miles run (excluding those by ‘capital’ engines) were 58,202,648.

1926 R. H. Tawney Relig. & Rise Capitalism i. 46 Clergy who lend money to persons in need..and receive profits beyond the capital sum lent, are to be deprived of their office.

1993 Past & Present Nov. 155 The accumulated penny-a-week premiums had established a capital fund of over £26 million.

2007 G. Tegeder & I. Helbrecht in M. Elsinga et al. Home Ownership beyond Asset & Security v. 120 The capital sum borrowed is repaid on the owner's death when the house is sold.

B. n.²

1. A capital letter.block, square capital: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > capital letter

capital1467

square capital1699

uncial1775

block capital1902

1467 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 420 (MED) Item, for capital drawynge iij c and di., the prise, iiij d. Item, for floryshynge of capytallis, v c, v d. Item, for byndynge of the boke, xij s.

1587 F. Clement Petie Schole 59 No capitall may be written in any parte of a worde, except in the first sillabe to begin the same.

1602 J. Davies Mirum in Modum sig. C As in a booke of Decretalls, She writeth hir decrees in Capitalls.

a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II cxvii, in Poems (1878) III. 166 Noe Character so small, But through that Glass appeares a Capitall.

1733 J. Swift On Poetry 8 When in Capitals exprest, The dullest Reader smoaks the Jest.

1755 J. Smith Printer's Gram. iv. 51 Some [authors]..distinguish no Substantives by Capitals, but prefix them to names of persons and places, also to titles of honour and eminence.

1842 Few Words Churchwardens (Cambr. Camd. Soc.) i. 9 They should be painted in large black letters, with all those letters in red which are printed in capitals in the Prayer Book: this is called rubricating.

1870 J. H. Burton Hist. Scotl. to 1688 VI. lxviii. 439 The Service-book was amply decorated with pictorial capitals.

1919 H. Etheridge Dict. Typewriting 125 May be in either capitals and smalls or all capitals.

1948 ‘H. Green’ Concluding 124 A letter, marked O.M.S. in great black capitals, was addressed to her personally.

2001 D. Crystal Lang. & Internet iii. 87 A distinctive feature of Internet graphology is the way two capitals are used—one initial, one medial.

a. A capital town or city; esp. a town or city serving as the seat of government for a country, province, state, county, or other administrative area.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [noun] > chief town or capital city

headeOE

mother-boroughc1225

master-borougha1325

sedea1387

chief1393

master-townc1400

metropolitan?a1439

capital city1439

master citya1450

stade1481

metropolea1500

capital1525

seatc1540

head-place1546

chamber1555

mother city1570

metropolis1584

metropolite1591

madam-town1593

capital town1601

seat-town1601

metropolie1633

megapolis1638

county seat1803

Queen City1807

metrop1888

Metroland1951

1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. f. xxxiv/1 Without any busynesse or reencounter we came to the captall.

1592 J. Eliot Survay France 82 S. Bartrand is the capitall of Cominges, and standeth on the toppe of a hill.

1618 T. Gainsford Glory Eng. i. ii. 11 The great Citie of Manquin was once Capitall of the Kingdome.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 756 Pandæmonium, the high Capital Of Satan and his Peers.

1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 49. ⁋4 He that, like Cæsar, would rather be the first man of a village, than the second in the capital of the world.

1773 Observ. State Poor 105 The few [roads], which under the direction of turnpikes,..serve to facilitate the conveyance of provision to the capital.

1818 Let. July in D. Turner Acct. Tour Normandy (1820) II. xxii. 139 Lisieux represents one of the most ancient capitals of the primitive tribes of Gaul.

1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. 3rd Ser. ix. 115 §2 A constant round from the capital to the watering place, and from the watering place to the capital.

1926 Glasgow Herald 27 Apr. 7 When he arrived in the capital of Abyssinia, Adis Ababa,..he was most kindly received by the Empress.

1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai 30 One day he opened an atlas of Australia and asked us to point out the six state capitals.

2009 Daily Tel. 22 July 23/1 There are plenty of outdoor events coming up in the capital of French-speaking Canada.

b. In extended use. With modifying word or of. A pre-eminent centre for the specified activity, product, or industry.granite capital: see granite n. Compounds 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > most important > place

capital1786

1786 J. Gillies Hist. Anc. Greece II. xxxviii. 603 The convenience of its situation, the capaciousness of its harbours, and the industrious ingenuity of its inhabitants, rendered it the commercial capital of the world.

1839 J. Paget Hungary & Transylvania I. xii. 333 Schemnitz may be considered as the mining capital of Hungary.

1865 J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea viii. 352 The Ile de Re..in the Bay of Biscay..may now be designated the capital of French oysterdom.

1888 Bismarck (Dakota Territory) Daily Tribune 23 June 2/2 Paris has long been accounted the culinary capital of the world.

1921 Boot & Shoe Recorder 30 July 86/2 The Wisconsin metropolis, famous the world over as ‘The Convention Capital of America’.

1955 Rotarian Jan. 15/2 Chicago is the capital of the meat industry.

1972 J. Mosedale Football iv. 52 New York..is the communications capital of the world.

1999 Muzik June 7/1 In most people's eyes it will remain the clubbing capital of the Med well into the millennium.

2004 C. Connelly Attention All Shipping (2005) 189 If Plymouth left one impression on me, it was as the canoodling capital of Britain.

a. Real or financial assets possessing a monetary value; the stock with which a company, corporation, or individual enters into business; the total sum of shareholders' contributions in a joint-stock company; accumulated wealth or goods, esp. as used in further production. Also in plural.authorized, fixed, risk capital, etc.: see the first element; return on capital: see return n. 2e.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > wealth > wealth or riches > [noun]

wealc888

ednessa1200

richessea1200

richdomc1225

richesses?c1225

wealtha1275

richesc1275

winc1275

warison1297

wonea1300

merchandisec1300

aver1330

richesc1330

substancea1382

abundancec1384

suffisance1390

talenta1400

pelf?a1505

opulence?1518

wealthsa1533

money bag1562

capital1569

opulency1584

affluency1591

affluence1593

exuberance1675

nabobism1784

money1848

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun]

capital1569

capital stock1569

security1746

financial instrument1798

dead stock1836

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal

cattlec1330

chief moneyc1390

principal1390

chattel1502

stock1526

capital1569

capital stock1569

nest-egg1801

corpus1844

1547 J. Y. Christoffels Notable Woorke Bk. Accomptes ix. sig. B.ii^v The other worde, the Italians call the Capitall, that is to saie, the Stocke or principall that the Marchant began with all... And it is at your pleasure whether ye will vse this worde Stocke in Englishe, or Capitale.]

1569 J. Peele Pathe Way to Perfectnes f. 13 The stocke, or capitall, which..the owner of the accompte hathe in trafique of merchaundise committed to thorder of his servaunt.

1588 T. Hickock tr. C. Federici Voy. & Trauaile f. 40 With this onely capitall, I aduentured to goe into the Indies.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Capital, wealth, worth; a stocke, a man's principall, or chiefe, substance.

1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo ii. xx. 363 Out of all these he maketh a Stocke or Capitall, which he doth enter into a Booke called a Iournall.

1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 290 Such Anticipations upon all kinds of receipts, for Monies borrowed, and already spent, that they had no Capitol for future Security.

1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 51 You began ill... You set up your trade without a capital .

1825 J. R. McCulloch Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. ii. 73 The accumulation..of the produce of previous labour, or, as it is more commonly termed, of capital or stock.

1825 J. R. McCulloch Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. ii. 114 Credit..enables those who have capitals..to lend them to those who are desirous to obtain them.

1875 A. Helps Social Pressure iii. 54 The immense difficulty that it is for any human being, without capital, to ensure himself a living.

1912 Q. Jrnl. Econ 26 320 The objective fact of increased or decreased income may exert a regulative effect on the supply of capital.

1949 E. Bowen Heat of Day iv. 68 Such capital as had not been placed in trust to provide for the widow during her lifetime went direct to Roderick.

2010 New Yorker 15 Mar. 25/1 They put up hardly any of the fund's actual capital.

b. figurative. Any source of profit, advantage, power, etc.; a store of some positive or advantageous quality. Frequently with descriptive adjective. Cf. to make capital out of at Phrases 2b.human, intellectual, political capital, etc.: see the first element.

ΚΠ

1818 New Monthly Mag. Sept. 139/2 An exuberance of fancy,..and a rich harmony of language, sufficient to form the entire intellectual capital of other less favoured nations.

1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. ii. 26 To reject the accumulated mental capital of ages.

1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iii. xxii. 74 A political platitudinarian as insensible as an ox to everything he can't turn into political capital.

1951 Amer. Econ. Rev. 41 703 The essential thing..is the shift in importance from material to intellectual capital.

1988 Oxf. Rev. Econ. Policy Winter xi An adequate resource of appropriately trained ‘human capital’ is therefore a prerequisite for successful technology policies.

2007 Korea Herald (Nexis) 2 Mar. [He] has joined a growing number of people..who tout trust, human relations, and social networking as a new form of capital—social capital.

c. The holders of wealth as a class; capitalists; employers of labour. Contrasted with labour n. 10b.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > employer > [noun] > general body of employers

capital1824

1824 W. Thompson Inq. Princ. Distrib. Wealth vi. 597 Should the fatal disunion between capital and labor impede..its [sc. security's] previous establishment.

1869 Eng. Mechanic 4 June 237/3 We might feel inclined to despair over the chances of Giant Capital and Dwarf Labour ever working harmoniously.

1929 D. H. Lawrence in Star Rev. Nov. 626 The Soviet hates the real physical body far more deeply even than it hates Capital.

1940 W. Temple Thoughts in War-time iv. 26 When we reach the stage of justice in the relations between capital and labour.

1999 C. Crouch in A. Gamble & A. Wright New Social Democracy 71 The confrontation between left and right, between capital and labour, has now been transcended.

4. Fortification. The line bisecting the salient angle of a work (as a bastion, redan, etc.), which divides that work into two equal and symmetrical parts.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > construction of defensive works > guiding lines

capital1631

semidiameter1669

magistral line1828

magistral1853

1631 H. Hexham tr. S. Marolois & A. Girard Art of Fortification ii. 42 After ye haue observed well the place towards which the Assaillant makes his account to beginn his approches, as towards these two Bulwarks, one might make litle ditches without them as A B C D, which are in the extention of the Capitals [Fr. és lignes capitales prolongees] beginning in the Angles A, C, of the length of 600 foote.

1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation i. 177/2 Joyn the Extremities of the Sides; on the Middle raise a Line perpendicular, on which set 18 Rods for the Capital, making an Angle, and two Interior Polygons, every one of about 50 Rods, giving 10 to the Demi-Gorges, and 8 to the Flanks.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Capital, the line..drawn either from the angle of the Polygon to the point of the Bastion, or from the point of the Bastion to the middle of the Gorge.

1755 J. Muller Treat. Pract. Part Fortification iii. vi. 151 Lay the ruler on the capital OC, and place a piquet in that direction.

1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 26 Vauban strengthened the continued line with redans placed 260 yards apart, having 30 yds. of demi-gorge, and 44 yds. of capital.

1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 50/1 Capital..is an imaginary line bisecting the salient angle of a work.

1905 Engineer Field Man. (U.S. Army, Corps Engineers) iv. 367 A redan consists of two lines called faces, ab and ac, fig. 48, which make an angle of about 60°. This angle is called the salient; its bisecting line ad the capital, and the line bc the gorge.

†5. Probably: a high quality clay used for fine pottery. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [noun] > for making pottery > types of

white claya1387

bottle clay1686

porcelain clay1690

blue clay1698

tasco1726

kaolin1728

capital1738

unaker1744

saggar1786

ball clay1811

Cornish clay1829

china-clay1840

Poole clay1875

bleaching-clay1881

pâte1890

virgin clay1891

1738 G. Smith tr. Laboratory iii. 93 One part of Capital or the Cream of Clay.

6. Finance. The amount outstanding on a mortgage, excluding interest.

ΚΠ

?1760 in tr. Voltaire Hist. Russ. Empire II. 207 They who have advanced money on land in Livonia, Estonia, and the island of Oesel..shall enjoy their mortgages peaceably, until both capital and interests are discharged.

1855 Hunt's Merchants' Mag. Jan. 34 As the supply [of money] increases, the weight of the mortgage, both as regards the payment of interest and the repayment of the capital, diminishes.

1906 A. W. S. O'Sullivan tr. C. S. Hurgronje Achehnese I. ii. 294 The object of the pledge or mortgage in such cases is..to have security for the repayment of the capital with interest.

1974 Listener 24 Jan. 98/3 A building society prefers its borrowers..to stick to the simple repayment mortgage: paying back the advance over a period by monthly instalments of capital and interest combined.

1997 T. W. McRae Managing your own Finances vi. 150 When mortgagees terminate their repayment mortgage half-way through the mortgage period they are usually surprised to find that such a small portion of the capital has been repaid.

2008 Independent 7 Aug. (Extra section) 6/2 Thousands of individual mortgages and repayments of capital and interest were ‘diced and sliced’ until they yielded various returns.

Phrases

P1. In senses A. 5, B. 1.

a. to speak in capitals: to speak or state with emphasis.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)] > other

to take the right-hand file1616

first1635

to speak in capitals?1694

to take the (or a) lead1761

to play first (or second) fiddle1778

to play first violin1780

to be no great (some great, considerable, etc.) shakes1819

to pitch it strong1823

to come out strong1825

violin1895

repeat1923

?1694 Trial Two False Witnesses unto Late Midnight-cry 18 Those Two famous Texts following are a Sacred Coment, to confirm the Argument, and speak the same in Capital Letters, That in Jer. 18. 7.

1780 Reformer No. 3. 50 The conjunction IF, which he spoke in capitals, explained another affection.

1871 L. W. M. Lockhart Fair to See I. 4 ‘ and i am!’ cried Fuskisson, a little white ensign, speaking in large capitals, with a voice like a Jew's harp.

1921 S. Desmond Gods ii. xii. 125 ‘Haven't been in a church for thirty years, except the great Church of Nature’ (he always spoke in capitals).

2007 P. Moore Principles i. 25 Marlene speaks in capitals. She's never just tired—she's completely and utterly FRIED.

b. — with a capital —: emphatically —; the real or quintessential — (introducing a repetition of the initial letter of a word, as Life with a capital L, etc.).

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > written character > [adjective] > initial letter of word repeated for emphasis

— with a capital —1859

1859 Punch 22 Jan. 33/1 You thus apply the epithets sordid, base, and disgraceful. You hurl them at the head of every individual in Society—Society with a capital S.

1876 Sat. Rev. 16 Sept. 358 He..is a Being with a capital B, and is foretold by his grandfather as Deliverer with a capital D.

1902 H. James Wings of Dove iv. 66 Kate had mentioned..that her aunt was Passionate..uttering it as with a capital P.

a1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix (1936) iv. 534 Life with a capital L is only man alive.

1966 Sunday Times 13 Nov. 10/4 A subtle attack upon the stability of our very own Monarchy, with a capital M.

2008 Independent 21 Feb. 25/4 We just went shopping. It was mad with a capital ‘M’.

P2. In sense B. 3.

a. to live on (also upon) (one's) capital: to spend or use up one's existing assets or resources without doing anything to replenish them. Also figurative and in extended use.

ΚΠ

1774 S. Seabury Free Thoughts Proc. Continental Congr. 16 The inferior merchant is ruined; he has lived on his capital; it is gone.

1834 H. Martineau Moral Many Fables ii. 48 The case of those who are driven to live upon their capital is, at least, better than that of the party which has no capital to live upon.

1883 R. Broughton Belinda iii. vii. 330 Belinda is living on her capital. At the week's end she will be bankrupt.

1939 T. S. Eliot Family Reunion ii. ii. 105 It is as if I had been living all these years upon my capital, Instead of earning my spiritual income daily.

1991 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 15 Oct. 6 We have wrecked the planet. We are now living on our capital.

2008 J. Hart Empires & Colonies vi. 235 Its industries declining steadily and then faster in the 1930s, Britain was living on its capital.

b. to make capital out of: to take advantage of (something); to turn to account.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > advantage > be advantageous or beneficial to [verb (transitive)] > take advantage of > turn to account

lucrify1564

improve1604

to turn to account1679

to make much (also little, something, nothing, etc.) of1707

avail1785

to make a good thing of (also out of)1800

utilize1807

exploiter1818

to make capital out of1840

capitalize1869

1840 Universalist Union 29 Aug. 651/1 What extraordinary efforts have the Union and Messenger put forth in this business..in their attempts to make capital out of this thing.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XV. 708/2 This..counteracted all the political capital they hoped to make out of the case.

1995 Independent 29 Apr. 12/4 Labour and Liberal reaction has been so philosophically parsimonious as once again to seek to make capital out of the politics of envy.

Compounds

C1. Compounds of the adjective.

a. In sense A. 3.

capital murder n. murder for which the death penalty may be imposed.

ΚΠ

1864 Soc. Sci. Rev. Nov. 468 The advocates of the abolition of capital murder will not fail to find in the case strong grounds for their argument.

1956 Hansard Commons 15 Nov. 1237/1 The distinction between non-capital murders and capital murders which is made in this part of the Bill must lead to many inconsistencies and anomalies.

2010 New Yorker 15 Feb. 58/1 This so-called Clean Team had compiled sufficient evidence to charge Mohammed and the others with capital murder.

capital punishment n. [compare Middle French peine capital (1408; French peine capitale)] the death penalty for a crime.

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [noun]

deatheOE

justificationa1419

capital punishment1581

death penalty1836

rope1934

1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha i. xii. 68 Capitall (or deadly) punishment, is done sundrie wayes.

1717 A. Bruce Inst. Mil. Law ix. 237 Such as willingly concealed or recepted them [sc. Deserters], incurred also capital Punishment.

1829 R. Southey Sir Thomas More i. v. 109 The humanity-mongers, who deny the necessity and lawfulness of inflicting capital punishment in any case.

2005 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Jan. r3/3 Liberal minds assert that capital punishment is wrong.

b. In sense A. 6.

capital city n. [compare Middle French cité capitalle (a1444; French cité capitale)] = sense B. 2a; cf. capital town n.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [noun] > chief town or capital city

headeOE

mother-boroughc1225

master-borougha1325

sedea1387

chief1393

master-townc1400

metropolitan?a1439

capital city1439

master citya1450

stade1481

metropolea1500

capital1525

seatc1540

head-place1546

chamber1555

mother city1570

metropolis1584

metropolite1591

madam-town1593

capital town1601

seat-town1601

metropolie1633

megapolis1638

county seat1803

Queen City1807

metrop1888

Metroland1951

1439Capital cite [see sense A. 6b].

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 924 Battering Engines bent to rase Som Capital City .

1856 Life Illustr. 31 May 33/4 Washington D.C., is the ‘Capital City’.

1861 T. E. May Constit. Hist. Eng. I. 298 The representation of this capital city [sc. Edinburgh]..was returned by thirty-three electors.

2000 Building Design 11 Feb. 13/1 Developers, property owners..and local authorities have visions of regenerating our capital city and of beautifying our built environment.

capital manor n. [compare post-classical Latin manerium capitale (1086, 1306 in British sources)] historical a manor held in capite, or directly from the King; cf. capite land n.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > manor > type of

manor in gross1607

royalty1652

capital manor1799

reputed manor1839

1799 E. Hasted Hist. & Topogr. Surv. Kent IV. 315/2 Notwithstanding this well-invented story of Thorn, it is more probable that this lynch was made to divide the two capital manors of Minster and Monkton.

1902 Ancestor Apr. 177 At a later time both Lostocks are found to be members of Weaverham, the capital manor with which King Edward endowed his abbey of Vale Royal.

2003 B. Graham in S. H. Rigby Compan. Brit. in Later Middle Ages i. 154 The capital manors of the most important and powerful lords were the first Anglo-Norman settlements to be granted charters in the various Irish lordships.

capital messuage n. [compare post-classical Latin messuagium capitale (frequently from 12th cent. in British sources)] a messuage (messuage n.) occupied by the owner of a property containing several others.

ΚΠ

c1550 in F. R. Raines Hist. Chantries Lancaster (1862) I. 65 Galfride Crichlawe holdyth one capital mesuage with thappurtenances lienge in Norton in the countie of Strafforde.

1711 London Gaz. No. 4893/4 The Capital Messuage or Mansion-House, called Newborrough-Hall.

1998 M. Carlin in M. Carlin & J. T. Rosenthal Food & Eating in Medieval Europe iii. 48 (note) The common law of England..allowed a woman to remain in the capital messuage for forty days only.

capital territory n. (also with capital initials) the territory containing the capital city of a country.Also in proper names with modifying word, as Australian Capital Territory, Federal Capital Territory, etc.

ΚΠ

1875 H. Fuller Grand Transformation Scenes in U.S. 72 The new law, providing for three Commissioners to govern the Capital Territory of ten miles square.

1924 Times 24 May 42/7 The Commonwealth has a capital territory of 900 square miles which embraces hills and mountains and forests and rivers.

1985 A. Boden Floral Emblems of Austral. 22 The royal bluebell..was announced as the floral emblem of the Australian Capital Territory on 26 May 1982.

2008 Morning Star (Nexis) 16 May Many original residents [of Abuja] have been forced from their homes and now live in teeming slums just over the border from the Federal Capital Territory.

capital town n. [compare Middle French, French ville capitale (a1417 as capital ville)] = sense B. 2a; cf. capital city n.

ΘΚΠ

society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [noun] > chief town or capital city

headeOE

mother-boroughc1225

master-borougha1325

sedea1387

chief1393

master-townc1400

metropolitan?a1439

capital city1439

master citya1450

stade1481

metropolea1500

capital1525

seatc1540

head-place1546

chamber1555

mother city1570

metropolis1584

metropolite1591

madam-town1593

capital town1601

seat-town1601

metropolie1633

megapolis1638

county seat1803

Queen City1807

metrop1888

Metroland1951

1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 125 From thence..to the capitoll towne of the Arachosians [L. Arachosiorum oppidum], 515 miles.

1829 A. Royall Pennsylvania I. 10 A small wooden musical box..by mechanical invention produced the name of any capital town you called for.

1991 R. Oliver Afr. Experience (1993) vii. 88 Islam was the religion of a minority important enough to be accorded a special quarter of the capital town containing twelve mosques.

capital vice n. = capital sin n. 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > kinds of sin > [noun] > mortal

head sinOE

capital vicec1522

capital sin1550

scapea1592

cardinal sin1603

c1522Capitall vyces [see sense A. 6a].

1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. ix. 185 Their great capital God Jupiter, guilty of almost all the capital vices.

1783 S. Gunning Coombe Wood I. v. 94 In such a heart, if I never perceived a capital vice, I sacredly declare I never yet discovered one virtue.

1882 Catholic World May 217 His capital vice of pride was one which men commonly are prone to pardon easily in a great man.

1986 S. Soriano & I. Soriano in C. Galerstein Women Writers of Spain 224 The author analyzes the capital vice of avarice, the crazed passion for money.

2004 J. Barad in S. Best & A. J. Nocella Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? 166 For Aquinas, while it is true that capital vices are never good considered in themselves, they are not necessarily evil, since they may be source of action in virtue of good.

c. In sense A. 7. (Some lemmas may be regarded as compounds of the noun).

capital account n. an account recording capital expenditure, or the amount of capital held by a business, country, etc.; (also) part of a nation's balance-of-payments recording the outflow and inflow of financial securities.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > account or statement of > [noun] > other types of accounts

calends of exchangec1374

scorea1400

pipe1455

mensalc1475

profit and loss1553

stock1588

bank account1671

lump-account1699

revenue account1703

profit and loss account1721

sundry1736

drawing account1737

stock account?1768

private account1772

trading account1780

Flemish account1785

capital account1813

embankment1813

cost account1817

cash-credit1832

current account1846

savings account1850

deposit account1851

suspense account1869

control account1908

checking account1923

ghost account1933

numbered account1963

budget account1969

ISA1975

MSA1993

1813 Farmer's Mag. May 143 It will be transferred to the Dr side of the next year's Capital Account.

1882 R. Bithell Counting-house Dict. 244 If the Profit and Loss Account shews a nett gain the balance is placed on the Cr. side of Capital Account.

1928 Times 8 Mar. 22/3 On balance we are overspent on capital account by £1,411,811.

1932 Financial Times 28 July 4/2 Capital account has undergone considerable modification... Fewer foreign securities were offered in the American market than in any other year of the post-war period.

1991 J. Kingdom Local Govt. & Politics in Brit. xi. 175 Local authorities keep two accounts: a current account (from which they pay salaries and other running costs) and a capital account (for the purchase of capital assets such as schools, roads and buses).

2004 BusinessWeek 3 May 42/2 China's closed capital account means huge inflows from exports.

capital allowance n. (a) an allowance given for the purposes of capital expenditure; (b) Finance an allowance which may be claimed against tax for all or part of certain types of capital expenditure.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > [noun] > allowance > for specific purpose

beggar-charge1652

vesturage1679

card money1688

mileage1724

necessary money1778

risk money1841

capital allowance1866

journey-money1883

1866 Rep. Cases Supreme Court Victoria (Austral.) 1 (Easter Term 1864) 34 The Warden first ascertains the gross sum to be allowed to the drainors [sic], including interest on capital allowance for wear and tear of machinery, and weekly expenditure.

1920 Cumulative Bull. Income Tax Rulings Dec. 1919 (U.S. Bureau Internal Revenue) 132 The value to the new owner upon which he may claim a capital allowance in computing net income is the cost to him. This is a fundamental in the basis of income taxation.

1958 Times 7 Jan. 15/1 The effect on capital allowances for profits tax purposes of new plants coming into operation.

1997 Moneywise Apr. 5/2 For example, you may be able to claim a capital allowance for your own car if you use it for work.

2007 J. Buckley & M. Schneider Charter Schools ii. 33 Charter schools receive a capital allowance of over $2,000 per student, a revenue stream against which many charter schools borrow for capital investments.

2007 Publican 23 Apr. 45/2 Purchasing customers can..claim an ECA (Enhanced Capital Allowance), entitling them to 100 per cent first year capital allowances against taxable profits.

capital asset n. an asset intended for continuing use, such as land, machinery, a patent or trademark, etc.; cf. current asset n. at current adj. Additions.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal > types of

stock1598

artificial capital1772

circulating capital1776

natural capital1785

money capital1791

working capital1798

reserve1819

authorized capital1825

current asset1826

loan capital1848

capital asset1851

water1867

capital equipment1893

refugee capital1926

risk capital1927

hot money1936

venture capital1943

risk money1944

exposure1975

1851 Rep. Auditor of Accts. 18 (table) in Rep. Commissioners (Parl. Papers XXX.) IX. The deficiency of capital assets to meet capital liabilities.

1921 Washington Post 16 Aug. 4/2 The bill redefines capital gain and capital loss, declaring the former to mean ‘taxable gain from the sale or exchange of capital assets’.

1990 J. K. Galbraith Financial Euphoria (1993) ii. 13 The larger the capital assets and income flow controlled, the deeper the presumed financial, economic, and social perception.

2003 BusinessWeek 12 May 13 (advt.) PeopleSoft SRM enables you to proactively control all of your enterprise spend—from direct goods to..capital assets to services.

capital bonus n. a pro rata bonus distributed in shares.

ΚΠ

1880 R. L. Nash Short Inq. Profitable Nature Investm. 62 The company was afflicted with the mania for issuing new capital, and declaring capital bonuses.

1928 Daily Chron. 9 Aug. 8/4 The directors..have distributed a number of capital bonuses among their fortunate Ordinary shareholders.

2006 H. Glennerster & A. McKnight in W. Paxton et al. Citizen's Stake i. vi. 98 There might be more incentives to minimise periods of long-term sickness—perhaps a capital bonus for those who make fewer calls on the sick-pay scheme.

capital budget n. Finance a budget outlining the sums allocated by an organization (esp. a government, local authority, etc.) for future capital expenditure; the money available for such expenditure.

ΚΠ

1878 Rep. Admin. Bengal, 1877–8 313 Permission has been obtained from the supreme Government to increase the capital account of the railway by another lakh of rupees, and a capital budget for the ensuing year has been prepared, working up to that amount.

1939 R. H. Wells Amer. Local Govt. iv. 127 New Jersey requires all local governments to prepare capital budgets and to submit them for review and approval to the state local government department.

1974 R. A. Caro Power Broker v. xxv. 551 The city had sufficient leeway in its capital budget to build the bridge itself.

2011 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 11 July 4 Like all NHS organisations, our capital budget has been reduced significantly as we aim to make substantial savings over the next five years.

capital budgeting n. Finance the process of preparing a capital budget.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > [noun] > planning > type of

capital budgeting1918

asset management1932

over-budgeting1933

ZBB1976

1918 Oelwein (Iowa) Daily Reg. 21 July 4/8 The city plan commission was studying..long-range capital budgeting and other needed municipal improvements.

1990 R. Johnson Econ. of Building xii. 137 The strategic decision making involved in capital budgeting often demands addressing a range of intangible benefits and costs that are less amenable to calculation.

2005 Financial Times 30 Sept. 8/4 Capital budgeting remains a crucial activity for companies regularly needing to purchase capital assets in order to prosper.

capital cost n. a cost deriving from, or forming part of, capital expenditure.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses

reparation1421

out-rent1475

farmage1650

tavernryc1650

travelling expenses1653

capital expenditure1834

capital outlay1834

travel expenses1839

capital cost1841

operating expenses1850

repair bill1858

carrying charge1879

capital spending1882

replacement cost1884

operating costs1901

carrying cost1904

user cost1922

support cost1953

1841 W. Templeton Locomotive Engine 85 (table) Capital cost.

1887 J. S. Jeans Railway Probl. iii. 46 In most other leading countries there has been an almost corresponding increase of traffic without a corresponding increase of capital cost.

1909 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 80 15 The capital cost of an electrically driven reversing-mill is greater than that of a steam-driven mill.

1978 H. C. H. Armstead Geothermal Energy xv. 244 With conventional thermal power plants the capital cost per kilowatt installed is sensitive to what is generally known as the ‘scale effect’; that is to say, a very large plant will tend to cost less per kilowatt than a small plant of similar type.

2005 Permaculture Mag. Winter 25/1 There are also tax advantages, including being able to offset certain capital costs against tax.

capital equipment n. equipment intended for continuing use by a business, organization, etc.; equipment identified as a capital asset.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal > types of

stock1598

artificial capital1772

circulating capital1776

natural capital1785

money capital1791

working capital1798

reserve1819

authorized capital1825

current asset1826

loan capital1848

capital asset1851

water1867

capital equipment1893

refugee capital1926

risk capital1927

hot money1936

venture capital1943

risk money1944

exposure1975

1893 Glasgow Herald 3 Feb. 6/2 A joint-committee of the Tramway Committee and the Finance Committee recommended that the capital equipment account should be kept by the general manager's department.

1924 H. U. Faulkner Amer. Econ. Hist. 642 There had been no increase in employment relative to the increase in capital equipment.

1987 D. Clandfield Canad. Film i. 11 The advent of sound was not welcomed unequivocally by the film industry. It..meant massive capital equipment costs for studios and theatres alike.

2007 Economist 2 June 4/2 New regulations requiring companies to adopt cleaner processes will mean that capital equipment is replaced more quickly.

capital expenditure n. expenditure from which benefits may be expected over a relatively long period; expenditure on capital or fixed assets; cf. capital investment n., capital spending n., capital outlay n.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses

reparation1421

out-rent1475

farmage1650

tavernryc1650

travelling expenses1653

capital expenditure1834

capital outlay1834

travel expenses1839

capital cost1841

operating expenses1850

repair bill1858

carrying charge1879

capital spending1882

replacement cost1884

operating costs1901

carrying cost1904

user cost1922

support cost1953

1834 A. Gordon Treat. Elemental Locomotion (ed. 2) vi. 227 The capital expenditure amounts to nearly 1,200,000l.

1958 Economist 26 July 271 Once the basic capital expenditure has been made on a machine and microphone, this is definitely an economic proposition.

2003 Daily Tel. 17 June 32/3 The company also surprised City analysts by guiding them that it would spend well below £2.5 billion a year on capital expenditure.

capital funding n. (a) capital raised by a business or company from lenders or shareholders; (b) funding for capital or fixed assets.

ΚΠ

1890 Rep. State Auditor to Governor N. Dakota p. v [Paid] interest on bonds and capital funding warrants..[$]29,674.62.

1912 F. A. Cleveland & F. W. Powell Railroad Finance viii. 146 Ordinary business foresight..would dictate the financing of extraordinary expenditures of this nature in such a manner as would be suggested or required for capital funding.

1994 M. G. Pappas Biotech Business Handbk. vi. 94/1 The same capital funding sources exist for biotechnology companies today as were available over a decade ago.

2011 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 12 Feb. 2 Capital funding was set at £215.1 million for building projects including the massive redevelopment of the Southern General hospital.

capital gain n. a profit from the sale of investments or property; also figurative; cf. capital loss n.

ΚΠ

1582 R. Hakluyt tr. Lett. Patent Henry VII in Diuers Voy. sig. A2^v The foresaide John and his sonnes and heires, and their Deputies bee holden and bounden..to pay vnto vs in wares or money the fifth part of the Capitall gaine [L. capitalis lucri] so gotten.

1777 London Rev. Eng. & Foreign Lit. June 456 The property, of such publications, by no means stands upon the footing of that of books; from the reprint of which the capital gain arises.

1957 J. Osborne Look Back in Anger ii. i. 56 Tell me, what could be more gilt-edged than the next world! It's a capital gain, and it's all yours.

2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 308 To qualify as a regulated investment company a firm must derive at least 90% of its income from dividends, interest, and capital gains.

capital gains tax n. tax on capital gains.

ΚΠ

1937 Times 20 May 7/1 He hoped the British Parliament would not pass a law such as they had in the United States, the Capital Gains Tax, which was really a part of the income-tax.

1966 Economist 23 July 380/1 The Revenue Service..will no longer permit investors to defer capital gains tax.

2006 Art Rev. Aug. 68/1 The seller must pay 28 per cent in capital gains tax and hefty auction house fees for the catalogue, insurance and storage.

capital gearing n. Finance (chiefly British) the ratio of debt to equity in a company's balance sheet, used as a measure of the extent to which debt has been used to fund the assets of a business, and also to assess the risk inherent in the capital structure of the firm; cf. capital leverage n.

ΚΠ

1931 Economist 16 May 1054/2 A crucial factor may be the relative importance of preference shares and debentures in the capital structure of a given company—or, to use a convenient term, the capital ‘gearing’.

1999 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 11 Feb. 23 The bank's ongoing attention to capital management will include consideration of a further buyback on market and improved capital gearing.

2010 D. J. Spurling Introd. Transport Econ. xx. 294 The different capital gearing will tend to make some profits seem much higher than others, even when both firms are operating with the same degree of efficiency.

capital goods n. economic goods (e.g. railways, ships, machinery, buildings) destined for use in production (as opposed to consumers' goods).

ΚΠ

1899 J. B. Clark Distrib. Wealth ix. 116 The differences that science must recognize between ‘capital’ and ‘capital-goods’.

1931 Times Trade & Engin. Suppl. 24 Jan. 430/4 The production of ‘capital goods’ which are not ‘consumed’ immediately the money is spent upon them, but contribute a quota to the national wealth over many future years.

2006 D. Edgerton Shock of Old iii. 63 Collectivisation was..driven..by a political imperative..to pay for tractors and other capital goods.

capital improvement n. an improvement involving capital expenditure; an improvement to a capital asset.

ΚΠ

1794 J. Tuke Gen. View Agric. N. Riding Yorks. 96 It would be to the advantage of the landlord, as well as tenant, if the former were to be at the expence of all capital improvements, such as buildings, the planting of new fences, draining, and such like improvements.

1801 J. Lawrence Mod. Land Steward 72 He [sc. the landlord] ought also to resolve on doing all the capital improvements of draining, marling, new fencing, and the like, himself.

1899 Railway News 3 June 887/2 $1,000,000 will be reserved for the future with a view to possible capital improvements and betterment of the line.

1946 S. E. Sanders & A. J. Rabuck New City Patterns iv. 43 Two of the tools for facilitating execution of master plans are the long-range capital improvements program and the capital budget.

1998 S. Dobyns Church of Dead Girls i. ii. 20 In his editorials Franklin began to argue that the city council needed to adopt a five-year capital-improvement plan.

2005 Financial Times 4 Jan. 18/2 The company has invested more than £24m in refurbishment and capital improvement projects.

capital investment n. investment from which benefits may be expected over a relatively long period; investment in capital or fixed assets; (also) an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > investment > other types of investing or investment

perpetual1833

fundholding1835

capital investment1842

floating1888

flotation1889

carried interest1908

ethical investment1915

National Savings1919

locking up1924

ploughing-back1924

foreign portfolio investment1951

inward investment1962

round-tripping1973

short-termism1986

1842 Standard 20 Dec. 3/5 The high rate of money interest and the low price of labour in India will show the advantageousness of capital investment there in useful undertakings, such as banks, railroads, irrigating canals, &c.

1898 Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly Jan. 63/2 These [factories] would represent a capital investment of $300,000,000 in buildings, machinery, and other equipments.

1946 Fortune Aug. 108/2 It [sc. the firm] does not buy or build its processing plants, but keeps capital investment low by retaining them on long-term leases.

1983 Chem. Week 25 May 37/1 The aprotic solvents are expensive and the purification equipment that is necessary to recover them entails a considerable capital investment.

2008 S. A. Roosa Sustainable Devel. Handbk. vi. 184 Once mechanical infrastructure is in place, capital investment is necessary for improvements.

capital leverage n. Finance (chiefly U.S.) = capital gearing n.

ΚΠ

1940 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Mar. 15/2 In the case of liquidating value of junior securities there is room for considerable variation due to the capital leverage.

1998 C. L. Cooper & C. Argyris Conc. Blackwell Encycl. Managem. 34/1 Both capital leverage..and income gearing.., together with high levels of indebtedness in the economy, may lead to companies' insolvencies.

2008 C. R. Morris Two Trillion Dollar Meltdown (rev. ed.) vi. 134 Over an asset boom and bust cycle, commercial banks tend to preserve a roughly constant level of capital leverage.

capital liability n. a debt or obligation resulting from capital expenditure; cf. capital asset n., current liability n. at current adj. Additions.

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1851 Rep. Auditor of Accts. 18 (table) in Rep. Commissioners (Parl. Papers XXX.) IX The deficiency of capital assets to meet capital liabilities.

1912 Times 19 Dec. 18/5 The scheme provided for the writing off of capital liabilities.

1990 P. Bosley Light Railways in Eng. & Wales iv. 52 It can be argued that several of these railways..saddled themselves with heavier capital liabilities than they need have done.

2003 C. Webster & L. W. Lai Prop. Rights, Planning & Markets viii. 191 It proposed that a municipal government agency..assume ownership of the capital liability of the Underground.

capital loss n. a loss from the sale of investments or property; cf. capital gain n.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > financial loss > [noun]

reprisea1393

underbalance1641

capital loss1727

write-off1858

shortfall1953

1727 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman II. i. iii. 105 One Adventure in Trade draws in another, till at last comes a capital Loss, which weakens the Stock, and which wounds the Reputation.

1783 Hibernian Mag. July 338/1 Several capital losses occurring almost at the same time, the state of their pecuniary affairs became so disarranged and embarrassed, that a bankruptcy ensued.

1894 R. T. Ely Socialism 118 If we divide the sum by two..we have a capital loss of two thousand five hundred millions of dollars.

1921 Washington Post 16 Aug. 4/2 The bill redefines capital gain and capital loss, declaring..capital loss to mean ‘deductible loss resulting from the sale or exchange of capital assets’.

1994 What Investm. Jan. 10/3 Should an asset be owned, the value of which has become negligible, a claim can be made to crystallise this capital loss without actually disposing of the asset.

2009 B. A. Bahbah Wealth Managem. in any Market ix. 216 The IRS allows you to offset your capital gains with capital losses.

capital outlay n. = capital expenditure n.; (also) an instance of this.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses

reparation1421

out-rent1475

farmage1650

tavernryc1650

travelling expenses1653

capital expenditure1834

capital outlay1834

travel expenses1839

capital cost1841

operating expenses1850

repair bill1858

carrying charge1879

capital spending1882

replacement cost1884

operating costs1901

carrying cost1904

user cost1922

support cost1953

1834 Caledonian Mercury 25 Dec. 3/4 There is not a Railway in the kingdom of which the maintenance and management do not cost more than five per cent. on the capital outlay.

1887 J. S. Jeans Railway Probl. xxiii. 358 Although the capital outlay on English railways is phenomenally high, so also is the volume of their traffic, and their average gross and net receipts per mile.

1932 Accounting Rev. 7 35/1 This forecast those in charge of finance must balance against the expected cost of sales..other expenses, and capital outlays thought necessary to effect the projected sales.

1987 I. Radforth Bushworkers & Bosses iv. 71 Reforestation and sustained-yield operations required large capital outlays, but short-sighted executives provided only meagre funding for such work.

2006 Economist 16 Sept. 104/2 The designers of the plant..managed to slash their capital outlay by substituting mass-produced parts from air-conditioners for the bespoke components of most geothermal plants.

capital profit n. = capital gain n.; cf. capital loss n.

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1656 in Coll. State Papers J. Thurloe (1742) V. 629 For the capital profit upon the gold, and interest of 7000 l. sterl. that is to say, there is 142 l. 7 s. more than what I received of Mr. Tronchin.

1774 J. W. Baker Exper. in Agric. 1773 41 Making capital profit by clover, depends upon the condition of the land.

1835 W. Greener Gun xii. 62 If..he can drive an advantageous bargain with the forger, he saves the cost of his iron, and makes a capital profit by the deduction from the price of the forger's labour.

1870 Economist 16 July 888/1 The second part of the book contains four ruled columns for an account of all purchases and sales, which will show at once the capital profit or loss on every transaction when completed.

1923 L. R. Robinson Foreign Credit Facilities in U.K. xii. 163 In many annual reports no mention is made of capital profits among the profit and loss items.

1997 T. W. McRae Managing Your Own Finances vi. 187 It would be unwise to assume that substantial capital profits can be made on an investment in housing in the future.

2011 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 30 Apr. These figures do not include the huge capital profits realised by the original United States investors when they sold their Telecom stakes.

capital project n. a large-scale project entailing major expenditure.

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1890 Manch. Guardian 23 Dec. 4/1 In the Industrial market a feature has been the weakness of Allsopp Brewery shares on discussion of the new capital project.

1908 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Feb. 140 Every bank now has more good customers than it can keep supplied,..advising many that for the present they must positively give up new capital projects and continue on their existing scale of operation.

1996 S. Etherington in C. Harvey & T. Philpot Sweet Charity i. 13 New monies are available to the arts, sports and environmental fields for capital projects.

2009 Vanity Fair Aug. 111/1 Harvard's hostile fiefdoms are pointing anonymous fingers, each accusing another of ‘pulling the trigger’ on this and that high-ticket capital project.

capital spending n. = capital expenditure n.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses

reparation1421

out-rent1475

farmage1650

tavernryc1650

travelling expenses1653

capital expenditure1834

capital outlay1834

travel expenses1839

capital cost1841

operating expenses1850

repair bill1858

carrying charge1879

capital spending1882

replacement cost1884

operating costs1901

carrying cost1904

user cost1922

support cost1953

1882 Pall Mall Gaz. 1 July 2/1 Unless a great change takes place in the capital spending policy of not a few among them [sc. railway companies]..the time cannot be far distant when dividends must be reduced.

1941 B. U. Ratchford Amer. State Debts 590 It [sc. a capital budget] gives perspective and method to capital spending and enables state officials and legislators to see the whole picture and thus to keep the various parts in correct proportion.

1994 Wall Street Jrnl. 25 Feb. b1/3 Most cable operators say they will be forced to cut capital spending, slowing construction of the vaunted information superhighway.

2011 R. A. W. Rhodes Everyday Life in Brit. Govt. 228 There can be no serious planning for flood management without them [sc. the Treasury] because the scale of capital spending is potentially enormous.

capital stock n. an aggregate of an organization's assets; = sense B. 3a.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun]

capital1569

capital stock1569

security1746

financial instrument1798

dead stock1836

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal

cattlec1330

chief moneyc1390

principal1390

chattel1502

stock1526

capital1569

capital stock1569

nest-egg1801

corpus1844

1569 J. Peele Pathe Way to Perfectnes f. 13 Directlye before the sayd somme of the capitall stocke in the Inventorie.

1730 H. Fielding Temple Beau v. xv. 71 Here is twenty thousand Pounds Capital Stock fallen into your Hands, and wou'd you let it slip?

1845 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 I. viii. 494 The state of the money market rendered it unadvisable to increase the Company's capital stock.

2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 249 An owner of nonassessable capital stock can lose no more than his or her original investment.

capital structure n. Finance the relative distribution between debt and equity of the overall finance of a company or other business concern.

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1913 Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Aug. 5/5 The heavy bonded indebtedness that had been saddled on the road originally... To relieve the road of this burden its capital structure was materially lightened and fixed charges reduced by over 30%.

1989 S. A. Fox Keys to Incorporating xix. 70 The totality of the enterprise's debt and equity securities is known as the capital structure.

2002 E. McLaney & P. Atrill Accounting (rev. ed.) vii. 215 The gearing ratio measures the contribution of long-term lenders to the long-term capital structure of a business.

capital surplus n. Accounting the amount of the surplus of a business which arises from sources other than earnings.

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1890 L. E. Daniell Types of Successful Men of Texas 65 In 1887 our bank was converted into the Corsicana National Bank, with a capital surplus of 125,000.00.

1904 Accountant 15 Oct. 401/1 In stating the surplus account in the Balance Sheet, the current or revenue surplus should be shown distinct from the capital surplus.

1998 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 11 Jan. a1 The 1998 plan called for the agency to dig into capital surplus funds to balance the books.

2004 M. R. Ahmad Inflation Accounting Pract. in India's Corporate Sector iii. 111 The account resulting from revalorization of the assets was included with capital surplus on the balance sheet.

capital value n. the market value of a long-term investment or asset.

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1706 Daily Courant 17 Dec. 1/2 His Catholick Majesty..demands that all the Church Plate be lent him, to enable him to pay his Troops, and promises to pay the Capital Value with Interest as soon as he has Ability.

1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations II. v. ii. 467 When property changes hands..such taxes have frequently been imposed upon it as necessarily take away some part of its capital value .

1816 Morning Chron. 17 June 2/2 The yearly revenue is estimated at 850,000 francs, and the capital value at 5 per cent. at 17 millions of francs.

1864 W. Russell Eccentric Personages I. 77 The relative..bequeathed to him her whole property, landed estate and money, amounting, in capital value, to the enormous sum, in those days, of fifty odd thousand pounds.

1929 Star 21 Aug. 19/1 It is interesting to record that some of our recommendations have duly improved in capital value.

1991 M. Ridge & S. Smith Local Taxation: Options & Arguments (IFS Rep. Series) 10 The consultation paper proposed a new tax called the ‘council tax’ which would allocate properties into one of seven bands on the basis of their capital value.

2007 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 15 Sept. 7 Rating authorities, including local councils, use site or capital values to levy rates and taxes.

C2. Compounds of the noun (in sense B. 3). (Some quots. may exemplify the adjective.)

capital accumulation n. the accumulation of capital, either by a single individual or business, or by an economy or society as a whole.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > specific theories or doctrines > value, accumulation, or reproduction of capital

reproduction1766

capital accumulation1863

organic composition of capital1887

primitive accumulation1887

primitive socialist accumulation1950

1863 Grant County (Wisconsin) Herald 29 Sept. 2/4 The total amount of capital accumulation in the hands of the Madison Mutual Insurance Company is reported at $420,827 to secure the 20,000 policies granted.

1878 Standard 17 Jan. 5/4 Down to 1875..not only were there no signs of the decline which has been spoken of, but there was abundant evidence of a continuous and large increase in the rate and quantity of capital accumulation.

1948 O. C. Cox Caste, Class, & Race ix. 143 Ambition, plutarchy, capital accumulation, exploitation, nationalism, humanitarianism, idealism, and so on, characterize this way of life.

1987 W. Greider Secrets of Temple i. v. 172 Moral contempt for bankers and their power over others would endure across the centuries and into the present time, but the process of capital accumulation established its own justification.

2006 Financial Times 27 Apr. 17/2 A sophisticated financial system is supposed to encourage capital accumulation.

capital adequacy n. Finance the statutory minimum reserves of capital which a bank or other financial institution must have available; frequently attributive, esp. in capital adequacy ratio (cf. capital ratio n.).

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1930 J. S. Lawrence Banking Concentration in U.S. ix. 195 Capital adequacy comes only as economic maturity is realized.

1993 B. Farthing Internat. Shipping (ed. 2) xii. 168 All banks from the G10 group also have to conform nowadays to new rules about what is termed ‘capital adequacy’.

2006 Financial Times 29 June 17/1 Bad loans have been flushed out and capital adequacy ratios boosted.

capital appreciation n. = capital growth n.; cf. capital depreciation n.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > money > value of money > [noun] > rise or increase in value

appreciation1777

capital appreciation1888

deflation1920

disinflation1947

upvaluation1953

1888 Sat. Rev. 4 Feb. 133/2 The buying of dividend-paying stocks will lead in due course to the buying of purely speculative stocks, purchasers hoping that they will receive in the capital appreciation of what they purchase compensation for the non-receipt of dividend.

1910 H. Withers Stocks & Shares xi. 317 The real investor looks most of all to security of income and least to the hope of capital appreciation.

1991 Independent 5 Jan. 19/1 Terminal bonuses are paid on policies when they mature and reflect capital appreciation over the term of the policy.

2004 C. R. Geisst Deals of Cent. v. 189 Junk companies notoriously had erratic cash flows..but also had the potential to present investors with strong capital appreciation.

capital consumption n. the depreciation in the value of capital goods in an economy during a specified period; frequently attributive (in Accounting), esp. in capital consumption allowance.

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1907 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. Sept. 77 There is all the time an offset in capital consumption to more than balance the scales on which is placed our new wealth.

1984 L. Osberg Econ. Inequality in U.S. v. 86 Since some capital equipment is used up in the process of production, one must subtract ‘capital consumption allowance’ from GNP figures to get Net National Product (NNP).

2006 R. Higgs Depression, War, & Cold War i. 7 From 1929 to 1941, the capital consumption allowance amounted to 8 to 10 percent of GNP.

capital control n. the regulation of capital, esp. the regulation of the movement of capital into and out of the domestic economy; a measure to achieve such regulation.

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1914 Jrnl. N.Y. State Teachers' Assoc. 15 June 168/2 Why..should the boy or girl be sent out of the high school without a good understanding of the more important questions of capital control, labor organization,..etc.,..which go so far in providing an understanding of our economic structure?

1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) iii. 61 All Western countries have found that without capital controls they risk capital flight and an imposed hike in interest rates.

2010 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Jan. c10/5 Policy makers face the delicate task of discouraging speculators without scaring off long-term investors. Anything too onerous will be labelled ‘capital controls’, causing investors to flee.

capital deepening n. Economics an increase in the amount of capital put into a process, economy, etc., relative to the amount of labour, resulting in a rising capital–labour ratio; cf. capital widening n.

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1937 Economica 4 277 The multiplier which is implicitly used is the ex-post multiplier which does not suffer from the shortcoming of the neo-Cambridge school in excluding the capital ‘deepening’ phenomenon in the cumulative process.

1999 Economist 20 Nov. 65/2 About a third of the improvement in potential productivity..comes from capital deepening, which largely reflects investment in..computers.

2009 R. J. Barbera Cost of Capitalism viii. 100 By giving Asian workers more machines—capital deepening—their productivity rose rapidly, supporting rapid economic growth rates.

capital depreciation n. a decrease in the value of the assets owned by a person, company, etc.; cf. capital appreciation n.

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1875 Glasgow Herald 7 June 6/2 In such circumstances your directors consider it satisfactory and reassuring to be able to announce the earning of a dividend after providing amply for capital depreciation.

1937 R. G. Hawtrey Capital & Employm. vii. 210 Few, if any, capitalists would so greatly fear capital depreciation as to keep the whole of their resources uninvested.

1999 N. T. Macdonald Macroecon. & Business (2002) ii. 43 The concept of capital depreciation leads to the distinction between gross investment and net investment.

2011 Irish Times (Nexis) 4 May 21 The moderate easing in rental value decline has led to a slowing in the rate of capital depreciation in the market.

capital duty n. = capital tax n.; spec. a stamp duty payable on the formation of companies, the issue of shares, etc.

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1889 Financial Times 3 Sept. 2/4 The capital of the August companies..exceeds by a very safe margin Mr. Goschen's estimate when imposing the capital duty by his Budget of last year.

1926 Jrnl. Inst. Actuaries 57 253 The Committee was obviously impressed by evidence as to the serious handicap on enterprise caused by the present high rate of capital duty.

1996 J. P. Vanderwolk in C. D. Booth Hong Kong Commerc. Law vii. 193 The investment of share capital in a Hong Kong company produces a liability for capital duty.

2005 Irish Times (Nexis) 8 Dec. 3 Financial Services Ireland welcomed the abolition of capital duty, saying it would create greater Irish influence on key investment decisions by foreign firms.

capital flight n. [probably after German Kapitalflucht (1858 or earlier)] Finance the movement of capital out of a region of economic instability; an instance of this; cf. flight n.² 1f.

ΚΠ

1921 N.Y. Times 16 Aug. 1/5 A great new ‘capital flight’, precipitated by the Government's confiscatory tax plans, is driving Germans to convert their paper marks into dollars.

1991 South Aug. 28/3 During the 1980s, with 80% of the people of Latin America in acute poverty, these countries lost $296bn in debt servicing and another US$150bn in capital flight.

2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 50 Capital flight results in further deterioration of a currency's exchange rate.

capital flow n. = capital movement n.; cf. capital inflow n., capital outflow n.

ΚΠ

1925 Washington Post 28 Apr. 3/1 (heading) No reason why capital flow should not be resumed, is New York view.

1993 A. Toffler & H. Toffler War & Anti-war v. xix. 185 The rise of knowledge-intensive, high-tech economies is also marked by..the liberalization of capital flows.

2003 Nation 1 Dec. 18/2 The phrase ‘emerging market’ only came into common use in the 1980s, but capital flows into developing countries..have a much longer history.

capital formation n. Economics the fact or process of generating capital.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > [noun]

winninga1300

purchasec1325

lucrec1380

chevisancea1400

framing1440

lucring1574

lucrifaction1606

lucration1658

money-making1785

realization1799

money getting1836

capital formation1889

1889 R. T. Ely Introd. Polit. Econ. v. 270 It is to be noticed that governments are more or less prominent in capital-formation.

1949 Sun (Baltimore) 19 July 12/2 Mr. Nathan insists that the recession through which we are moving is due to the heavy capital formation of the last two years.

1995 C. Dunn Canad. Polit. Deb. vi. xi. 269 The most important aspect of economic democracy was the participation of employees rather than government per se in capital formation by way of ‘wage-earner funds’.

2006 Financial Times 1 Aug. 13/1 Excessive and costly regulation..is having a stifling effect on capital formation and economic growth.

capital growth n. an increase in the value of the assets owned by a company, person, etc.; cf. capital appreciation n.

ΚΠ

1879 Railway Times 30 Aug. 712/1 I would refer to the capital growth during that period... The singular feature is that there has been a steady rate of progression of capital of about 70 per cent. every ten years.

1906 Economist 15 Sept. 1512/2 There has..been a pause of four years in the capital growth of the two companies.

1989 W. Boroson Keys to investing in Mutual Funds xxiv. 69 This type of fund attempts to combine long-term capital growth with a steady stream of income.

2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 22 Feb. iii. 7/2 This is not a share for dividend seekers, but for those looking for longer-term capital growth.

capital inflow n. the net movement of capital into a country's economy; the movement of foreign-owned capital or assets into a country, or a decrease in the assets a country holds abroad; (also) an instance of this; cf. capital outflow n.

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1900 Statist 27 Oct. 662/1 India's demand for silver is chiefly dependent upon the balance of trade—including the capital inflow—in favour of that country.

1993 J. de Larosière in C. I. Bradford Mobilising Internat. Investm. for Lat. Amer. i. 18 An excessive rate of capital inflow may become a cause of imbalance by increasing inflationary pressures and inducing an excessive increase in the real exchange rate.

2007 Economist 15 Dec. 88 Some fear—and others hope—that the dearer rupee will prompt India to..tighten its controls on capital inflows.

capital injection n. the investment of capital into a company, esp. one which is starting up or experiencing financial problems; an instance of this.

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1930 G. Wood Borrowing & Business in Austral. x. 124 It now remains..to indicate how fluctuations in the rate of capital injection are followed by corresponding oscillations in prosperity as marked by available bank credit.

1996 Financial Times 11 Jan. 28/7 Aérospatiale, the French state-owned aerospace group, might need a capital injection from an outside company.

2010 D. Snider & C. Howard Money Makers i. 21 Banks that took significant capital injections from the federal government..may have to bear the brunt of higher government scrutiny and regulations.

capital intensity n. [probably after German Kapitalintensität (1867 or earlier)] Economics the amount of capital required for a production process, in relation to other factors, esp. labour; the ratio reflecting this relationship.

ΚΠ

1930 G. M. Peterson & J. D. Black in Res. Public Finance in Relation to Agric. (Social Sci. Res. Council Bull. No. 1) 112 Labor intensity can be measured in terms of input in physical terms; also livestock intensity. Other forms of capital intensity are best measured in terms of value.

1997 W. G. Roy Socializing Capital vii. 205 The capital intensity for the [sugar] industry was $9.54 capital for every dollar in wages.

2008 Transition No. 99. 151 Because of its capital intensity, oil production requires huge investments.

capital-intensive adj. (of a business or industrial process) requiring the investment of large sums of money; cf. labour-intensive adj. at labour n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [adjective] > involving great or excessive expenditure

dear1044

chargeous138.

wastyc1380

dear-boughtc1384

costlewa1387

costlya1425

costy?c1430

costfulc1450

costablea1475

chargeable1480

sumptuous1485

chargeful1529

deep1608

tributary1632

burdenablec1650

expensivea1661

consumptive1753

capital-intensive1907

1907 R. Zon in L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Agric. (ed. 2) II. 323/1 All of this..has..led to designating forestry as a ‘capital intensive’ industry.

1992 Investors Chron. 23 Oct. 14/1 Avoid companies that are capital intensive and are always requiring more money for new machinery or even worse, for the replacement of old machinery at a vastly higher cost.

2002 D. Goleman et al. Business: Ultimate Resource 874/1 Capital-intensive businesses can usually maintain greater debt-to-capital ratios for the same level of borrowing costs as businesses that are less capital intensive.

capital levy n. the raising of tax on capital assets such as privately owned wealth or property (as distinct from taxation of income or interest, etc.); (also) an instance of this; cf. capital tax n.

ΚΠ

1885 Bismarck (Dakota Territory) Daily Tribune 25 Nov. Bussey..paid taxes for 1883 to the amount of $3.66 of the capital levy.

1920 R. Muir Liberalism & Industry xvii. 178 If a capital levy can be proved the best way..out of our difficulties, it ought to be adopted.

2010 Guardian (Nexis) 21 May 37 Why not a capital levy and a wealth tax to tackle the deficit and reduce inequality at the same time?

capital market n. Finance (also in plural) the part of a financial system concerned with raising capital by dealing in shares, bonds, and other long-term investments.

ΚΠ

1849 T. H. Milner Some Remarks Bank of Eng. 44 I have suggested a test..by which to judge of the general condition of the capital market, and which will shew when a scarcity of capital is threatened.

1896 19th Cent. Apr. 577 If we lend afresh and take more risks, it is less because we have more faith in foreign creditors or enterprises than because the condition of the capital market at home is become unbearable.

1935 Economist 4 May 1009/1 A number of corporate refunding issues have been successfully offered.., leading the Secretary of the Treasury to affirm that the ‘log-jam in the capital market’ has at last been broken.

1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) vi. 165 In the capital markets..the preoccupation with liquidity has been worsened by the slew of new financial instruments or ‘derivatives’.

2006 Financial Times 15 Dec. 25/1 Investors appear concerned that recent near-perfect capital market conditions will not continue.

capital movement n. a transfer of capital, esp. between countries, either by companies or individuals (usually in plural); (also) such transfers considered collectively.

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1869 Merchants' Mag. Mar. 222 The General Balance Sheets for each of the five years..show the capital movements and balances to credit and debit at the dates respectively.

1901 Financial Times 21 Sept. 3/6 The fundamental principle of the bank is to give the greatest possible mobility to its funds, so much so that the general capital movement during 1900 in respect of all its transactions is returned at £345,975,773.

1918 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 75 230 Capital movements may be discouraged by the interposition of obstacles in the way of foreign enterprises.

2010 Irish Examiner (Nexis) 29 Jan. The index measures openness to trade, capital movements, exchange of technology and ideas, labour movements and cultural integration.

capital outflow n. the net movement of capital out of a country's economy; the movement of domestically owned capital abroad, or an increase in the assets a country holds abroad; (also) an instance of this; cf. capital inflow n.

ΚΠ

1897 Statist 27 Nov. 836/2 It is interesting to note the effect upon our export trade of free capital outflow from this country to Australasia and to Argentine.

1937 Amer. Econ. Rev. 27 161 Should not a country be in a position to raise its currency to stop an undesired capital inflow and to lower it to prevent an undesired capital outflow?

1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) x. 281 The US is increasingly unable to..control its capital outflows.

2007 Economist 25 Aug. 71/3 Most Asian economies are also much less vulnerable to capital outflows than they used to be.

capital–output ratio n. Economics the ratio of the amount of capital invested in a process, economy, etc., to the value of the return on such investment; cf. capital-to-output ratio n.

ΚΠ

1942 W. Fellner Treat. War Inflation ii. 28 It may be assumed that the capital-output ratio was..roughly the same in 1939 as ten years earlier.

1993 Observer (Nexis) 14 Mar. 30 Assuming a capital-output ratio of three to one, the capital required to bring eastern Germany..up to Western standards is enormous.

2006 F. H. Ono & J. L. Oreiro in N. Salvadori Econ. Growth & Distribution vi. 124 A common assumption adopted in models that follow a post-Keynesian tradition is the constancy of the capital-output ratio.

capital raising n. (a) the action or process of obtaining capital; (b) the issue of new stock by a company in order to acquire funds; an instance of this; frequently attributive.

ΚΠ

1846 Herapath's Railway & Commerc. Jrnl. 21 Nov. 1461/2 That the proposed subscription by this Company towards the capital raising for the purchase of the present Sutton Pool Company's undertaking..be approved.

1896 Investors' Rev. Sept. 157 This is not an enormous sum, measured by their present resources, their expanding traffic, and their practically unlimited capital-raising powers.

1920 Daily Mail 21 Oct. 3/3 That the directors..have courage is indicated by their launching of the new capital raising proposals without underwriting in the midst of a national coal strike.

1989 R. Millward in D. Cobham et al. Money, Trade & Paym. x. 196 Prior to the 1835 Municipal Corporation Act, much local administration was inefficient and capital raising powers were limited.

2002 J. Carmichael & M. Pomerleano Devel. & Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Inst. ii. 63 Rules governing the issuing of prospectuses for capital raisings are important for building investor confidence in the market.

capital ratio n. Finance the ratio of available capital to assets held by a bank or other financial institution, used esp. as a measure of capital adequacy.

ΚΠ

1909 Washington Post 20 Oct. 6/6 The capital ratio in State banks has declined from 41 per cent in 1878 to 18 per cent in 1908.

1962 R. S. Sayers & W. Linder in R. S. Sayers Banking in W. Europe iv. 178 Their special position under the banking code excuses them [sc. Swiss private banks] from regulation of their capital ratios and of accumulation of reserves.

1983 Financial Times 5 Sept. 12/8 U.S. bank regulators..issued new capital adequacy guidelines... Multinational banks..were asked to observe a minimum 5 per cent capital ratio.

2011 F. de Weert Bank & Insurance Capital Managem. xiv. 131 From a solidity perspective, a bank likes to have as high a capital ratio as possible.

capital redemption reserve n. Finance a reserve fund created in the event of a company purchasing its own shares in circumstances resulting in a reduction of share capital, in order to protect creditors by ensuring that the assets representing the company's capital are not reduced.

ΚΠ

1920 W. R. Skinner Mining Man. 190 Capital redemption reserve £1,575.

1999 E. M. Ferran Company Law & Corporate Finance xiii. 444 The requirement to make a transfer to the capital redemption reserve applies only to the extent that the buy back is funded from distributable profits.

2006 A. Fight Cash Flow Forecasting ii. 33 Other reserves prohibited from distribution by the company's memorandum articles include capital redemption reserves.

capital requirement n. (a) the amount of capital required by a business or company in order to be able to operate; (b) the amount of capital that a bank or other financial institution must hold in order to maintain capital adequacy.

ΚΠ

1859 Bristol Mercury 12 Feb. 2/4 The directors state this merely to guard against misconception as to the effect of a resolution now to be proposed, and not as entertaining any reserved intention or expectation of capital requirements beyond those mentioned in the said report.

1894 R. M. Breckenridge Canad. Banking Syst., 1817–90 vii. 200 We have to note one change in the capital requirement, no new bank now being permitted to issue notes or begin business with less than $500,000 capital bonâ fide subscribed, and $100,000 similarly paid-up.

1930 Economist 5 July 22/1 During the past month big Dutch enterprises have had to have recourse to foreign markets..for their capital requirements.

1997 L. K. Miller Sports Business Managem. i. 12 The capital requirements to enter the golf club industry are exorbitant.

2010 Evening Standard (Nexis) 2 Mar. Higher capital requirements by regulators will make it more likely that bits of the banking industry are lower-return but lower-risk than in the past.

capital reserve n. Accounting an account or fund set aside for long-term capital investment projects or other large anticipated expenses, and which is not available for distribution as dividends; frequently attributive, esp. in capital reserve fund.

ΚΠ

1846 R. Thomas Taunus Railway 25 The capital reserve fund pro 1844 amounts to..£5,583 6s. 8d.

1892 Electr. Engineer 22 Jan. 94/2 This last issue of shares placed £15,000 at the disposal of the Directors as a capital reserve fund.

1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 14/2 The discount on this issue has been entirely written off from share premium and capital reserve accounts.

1990 R. Izhar Accounting, Costing, & Managem. i. x. 151 These [other reserves] may be either revenue reserves..or capital reserves such as capital redemption reserve.

2002 E. McLaney & P. Atrill Accounting (rev. ed.) iv. 108 The £0.50 per share premium will be shown as a capital reserve known as the share premium account.

capital-to-labour ratio n. (also capital-to-labor ratio) Economics = capital–labour ratio at capital–labour adj.

ΚΠ

1940 Free Europe 9 Feb. 123/2 Production has a high capital to labour ratio.

1985 P. A. Strassmann Information Payoff ix. 163 In the banking and insurance industry, the rapid rise in capital-to-labor ratio is almost certainly influenced by large increases in computer automation.

2011 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 17 Mar. The capital-to-labour ratio improved at an average rate of 3.5 per cent a year in Australia compared with 2 per cent here.

capital-to-output ratio n. Economics = capital–output ratio n.

ΚΠ

1936 Economist 19 Dec. 590/2 Neither the Association, nor any other public company in the trade, can offer a capital-to-output ratio comparable with that of the reorganised Lancashire Cotton Corporation.

1997 M. Storper Regional World v. 119 The firm's strategy is to maximize the efficiency of capital use, that is, to minimize the capital to output ratio.

2006 Financial Times 5 May 17/2 Investment has been directed towards services where the capital to output ratio is much lower than in building or manufacturing.

capital tax n. a tax on capital assets such as wealth or property, rather than income; = capital levy n.

ΚΠ

1804 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 485 The capitalists of this class would..have an undoubted right..to remove altogether from the operation of the capital tax.

1892 C. F. Bastable Public Finance iv. ii. 404 Bavaria has a capital tax besides its income tax.

1923 H. G. Moulton & C. E. McGuire Germany's Capacity to Pay v. 152 It [sc. the National Defence Contribution] was a capital tax and an income tax combined.

1999 National Trust Mag. Spring 7/3 An 18th-century Netherlandish flower painting at Dudmaston in Shropshire has been accepted by the Minister for the Arts in lieu of capital taxes.

2007 T. K. McCraw Prophet of Innovation vi. 100 The Finance Ministry would then assign an appropriate capital tax for each citizen.

capital transfer tax n. a tax levied on transfer of capital by gift, bequest, etc. (in the United Kingdom replacing estate duty in 1975 and replaced by inheritance tax in 1986).

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > tax > types of tax > [noun] > estate or inheritance taxes

finec1436

legacy duty1786

probate duty1804

inheritance tax (or taxation)1841

death tax1850

death duty1852

succession duty1853

succession tax1859

testate duty1880

estate duty1889

capital transfer tax1928

1928 F. F. Blachly & M. E. Oatman Govt. & Admin. Germany vii. 188 The income, property and commercial taxes..nearly always include..income tax, property tax,..tax on the interest from capital,..capital transfer tax, and increase of land value tax.

1974 Hansard Commons 12 Nov. 276 The new capital transfer tax will replace the estate duty on deaths after the Bill has received Royal Assent.

1986 Daily Tel. 24 May 14/5 The president of the Historic Houses Association..plays down too much euphoria over the Chancellor's proposed substitution of inheritance tax for capital transfer tax.

capital widening n. Economics an increase in the amount of capital put into a process, economy, etc., which matches the increase in the amount of labour, resulting in the capital–labour ratio remaining constant; cf. capital deepening n.

ΚΠ

1937 R. G. Hawtrey Capital & Employm. iii. 35 (heading) Widening and Deepening of Capital.]

1939 Amer. Econ. Rev. 29 556 Hawtrey's..neglect of ‘real’ factors in cyclical fluctuations, his exclusion of the capital ‘widening’ process as relevant to interest rates..—all these are rightfully objected to.

1988 B. J. McCormick World Econ. viii. 167 Americans have tended to employ relatively larger ratios of labour to capital in production processes and to indulge in capital widening..rather than capital deepening.

2003 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 10 Feb. 12 Australia seems hell-bent..on capital widening, rather than deepening, as its investment dollars go into real estate to house an ever-growing population.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	capital
释义	capitaln.¹ Brit. /ˈkapᵻtl/, U.S. /ˈkæpədl/ Forms: α. Middle English capitale, Middle English 1600s– capital, Middle English–1700s capitall. β. late Middle English capitelle, late Middle English–1600s capitell, 1500s–1600s capitel. γ. 1600s–1700s capitol. δ. 1600s capitull. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French capital; Latin capitellum. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French capital, capitel subdivision of a text (late 12th cent. in Old French), head of a column (c1192 or earlier), kind of lye (second half of the 15th cent.), and its etymon (ii) post-classical Latin capitellum (see capitellum n.). Compare Italian †capitello head of a column (c1336), kind of lye (1611 in Florio, rare). In δ. forms perhaps after classical Latin capitulum capital of a pillar (see capitulum n.). Compare chapitel n.With sense 3 compare earlier capitle n. and chapitle n. In sense 4 after French chapiteau cap of a chimney (1714 in the passage translated in quot. 1715: see chapitel n.). 1. The head or cornice of a pillar or column. Also figurative.cushion, lotus, pilaster capital, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > column > [noun] > capital capital?c1335 coronala1400 chapiterc1425 heada1500 coronet1555 chapitel1682 cap1870 ?c1335 (a1300) Land of Cokaygne 69 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 146 (MED) Þe pilers of þat cloistre alle Beþ iturned of cristale, Wiþ har las [read bas] and capitale Of grene Iaspe and rede corale. 1483 ( tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage of Soul (Caxton) iv. xxxvi. f. lxxxiij^v The legges..ben as it were pylers..the knees ben the capitals and the feete the bases. 1563 J. Shute First Groundes Archit. sig. Bi^v In the Capitel, was set Voluta..for an ornature and garnishment of the Capitell. 1604 M. Drayton Owle sig. E From the Base vnto the Capitell. 1660 tr. H. Blum Bk. Five Collumnes Archit. (new ed.) E a Corinthian Capitall. 1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) ii. 157 Four great Pillars..adorned with Capitels..of brasse guilt. 1747 Scheme Equip. Men of War 60 On the Capitol, Victory, Trade, Peace and Plenty might be expressed. 1783 Gentleman's Mag. July 547/2 The capital they ornamented with palm leaves, instead of the acanthus, which indeed belongs to the Cornithian. 1819 J. Keats Cap & Bells lxxxi White columns wreath'd from capital to plinth. 1851 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice I. vii. 71 A capital is only the cornice of a column. 1887 R. Abercromby Weather iii. 73 A cumulus is..the visible capital of an ascensional column of air. 1922 E. S. Prior Eight Chapters Eng. Medieval Art iv. 61 The capitals of columns were fashioned as simple bells or just traced with spring leafage. 1951 N. Pevsner Middlesex (Buildings of Eng.) 100 A deep porch with polished pink and grey marble columns and naturalistically carved capitals. 2003 R. Taylor How to read Church 30 Doric columns tend to be plain, with simple rounded heads, or capitals. †2. A strong preparation of lye: = capitellum n. 1. Cf. capital lye n. Obsolete. ΚΠ ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 124 Gallicus [?c1425 Paris þe frensche sope] is made of 2 part of capitell [Paris lye; L. capitelli] and 1 of shepe talowȝ. Capitell forsoþ is made of 2 partes of asshez of bene stellz and ȝa of calce vif..and þat þat distilleþ is capitelle [L. capitellum]. 1597 P. Lowe Whole Course Chirurg. viii. v. sig. Ee2v Otherwise thus take ashes of oake and vine, graneley, stalkes of beanes an. like quantitye, steepe them in water and make your Capitell, putting thereto a little quick-lyme. 1658 tr. G. della Porta Nat. Magick xvi. ix. 350 The same is performed, if you mix a strong lye, they call it Capital [L. lixiuium fortissimum quod capitellum vulgus vocant], with your ink; for first they [sc. the letters] will be yellow, and then they will vanish. 1737 B. Martin Bibliotheca Technologica 506 Lapis infernalis, or the Infernal Stone; the Composition of which is as follows: Take Capital, i. e. the strongest Soap-Lees, any Quantity, and evaporate to a Dryness, and keep the Residue in a Glass well stop'd. †3. A short division of a book: = capitle n. 1a. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > chapter or section capitleeOE chapter?c1225 pacea1325 chapitle1340 passa1400 capitalc1460 titlec1460 spacea1500 section1576 head1610 tract1662 passus1765 screed1829 subtitle1891 c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Letabundus (Harl.) l. 268 in Minor Poems (1911) i. 58 The Capitallys let him clerly devyde, In Ordre set as Austyn doth provide. 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe III. vii. 161 Holy St. Bernard in the rule of our..profession, hath said, in the fifty-ninth capital [etc.]. 4. The head or cap of a chimney, crucible, still, etc. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [noun] > a covering > on the top > specifically of artificial things cap1609 capital1715 1715 J. T. Desaguliers tr. N. Gauger Fires Improv'd 79 Such a Capital [Fr. chapiteau] will wholly hinder the Wind from going into the Chimney. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Capital of a lanthorn..Capital of a mill. 1806 W. Henry Epitome Chem. (ed. 4) i. xi. 141 An alembic, covered with its capital. 1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 6 A clean copper still, furnished with a capital and warm-refrigeratory, either of silver or block tin. 1860 W. Johnson Pract. Draughtsman's Bk. Industr. Design (ed. 2) vi. 179/2 The only attempts at ornamentation being..the base and capital of the chimney. 1902 W. W. Christie Chimney Design & Theory (ed. 2) vii. 117 The ornamental brick and concrete capital of the chimney will be 16 feet high. 1983 Artibus et Historiae 4 112/1 (caption) Workshop of Claus Suter, ca. 1494, capital of chimney (originally in the Guard Room). Compounds † capital lye n. Obsolete = capitellum n. 1; cf. sense 2. ΚΠ 1590 J. Hester tr. J. Du Chesne Sclopotarie 92 Decoct Antimonie made in powder with a capitall lye [L. cum capitello] prepared of Tartar calcined, and Sope ashes and quicklime. 1747 R. James Pharmacopœia Universalis iii. iv. 607/2 If any Oil still appears, the Addition of a little more capital Lie is required. 1761 R. Dossie Theory & Pract. Chirurg. Pharmacy i. v. 137 The solution of this salt, when of a certain degree of strength, is called sope lye, or capital lye. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021). capitaladj.n.² Brit. /ˈkapᵻtl/, U.S. /ˈkæpədl/ Forms: Middle English capitle, Middle English captal, Middle English captel, Middle English capytalle, Middle English–1500s capitale, Middle English–1500s capytal, Middle English–1600s capitall, Middle English–1600s capitalle, Middle English–1600s capytall, Middle English– capital, 1500s captall, 1600s capitoll, 1600s cappitall, 1700s capitol; also Scottish pre-1700 capitale, pre-1700 capytale, pre-1700 capytalle. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French capital; Latin capitālis. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman capitall, capitale, Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French capital, Middle French cappital (French capital ) (adjective) of or relating to the head (late 12th cent.), (of a letter) placed at the beginning of a passage (late 12th cent: see note), of or relating to the death penalty (c1193 in capital sentence , or earlier), of or relating to life (c1255), (of a person) leading, important (a1334), (of a crime) punishable by death (1378 in crime capital ), main, chief, principal (a1410), (of a town) chief, principal (a1417), (noun) face value of a debt or income (1567), real or financial assets collectively (1606), (feminine noun) capital city (see note), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin capitālis (of punishment) involving the loss of head or life, (of criminal offences) punishable by death, involving the loss of civil rights, (of persons) worthy of death, (of a judge) appointed to execute sentences, involving danger to life, fatal, deadly, dangerous, (of enemies) deadly, moral, first-rate, fine, in post-classical Latin also (of a city) chief, principal (10th cent. in a British source), (of a person) leading, important (12th cent.), of or relating to the head (c1250 in a British source), at the end or top (c1266, 1348 in British sources) < capit- , caput head (see caput n.) + -ālis -al suffix¹. Compare Catalan capital (1272), Spanish capital (13th cent.), Portuguese capital (13th cent.), Italian capitale (13th cent.; earliest as noun).Old French capital shows an early medieval borrowing < Latin; the direct Old French descendant of the Latin word is chatel , chetel (see chattel n.). With edre capitale (in quot. ?c1225 at sense A. 1) compare Anglo-Norman and Middle French veine capitale (13th cent. as veine capital in the Anglo-Norman version of Ancrene Riwle). With capital enemy (see sense A. 2) compare Middle French, French ennemi capital (1378 as anemi capital ) With capital letter (see sense A. 5) compare post-classical Latin littera capitalis (c1178, c1362 in British sources), Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French lettre capitale (late 12th cent.). With use as noun in sense B. 1 compare later post-classical Latin capitalis capital letter (c1503 in a British source), Middle French, French capitale (1567). In sense B. 2a after Middle French capitalle (feminine) capital city (1475; French capitale ), short for cité capitalle , etc.; compare earlier capital city n. at Compounds 1b and later capital town n. at Compounds 1b, and compare also the French parallels cited at those lemmas. A. adj. I. Relating to the head. †1. Of or relating to the head or top. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > [adjective] capital?c1225 cephalic1599 cephalical1599 cephalistic18.. proral1894 the world > space > relative position > high position > [adjective] > of or relating to the top capital1486 apical1828 ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 189 Wið uten þe edren capitale þe bledden onhis heaued. ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 5 Of capitale medecenes [L. medicinis capitalibus] & instrumentez wyþ which is made operacioun in þe woundes of þe heued. 1486 Blasyng of Armys sig. fj^v, in Bk. St. Albans Sparris..put..by the maner of an hede, and ij syche sparris or cheuerons ionyt togedyr make a capitall sygne. ?1570 tr. Shepardes Kalendar (rev. ed.) xiv. sig. H.vi On the sommet of the head is a bone that couereth the braine, the which Shepards call the capitall bone. 1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. f. 50^v/1 Indeede noe Capitalle woundes are to be esteemed smalle. ?1624 G. Chapman tr. Βατραχομυομαχια in tr. Crowne Homers Wks. 9 Their parts Capitall They hid. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xii. 383 His [sc. the Serpent's] capital bruise. View more context for this quotation 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. xiii. 34 A Pillar Composed in the Capital part. 2. Of an enemy or enmity: deadly, mortal. Now archaic. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of hate or enmity deadlyc1275 capital1395 mortalc1425 Remonstr. against Romish Corruptions (Titus) (1851) 123 To constreine him to worche with his capital enemy at the wil of his capital enemy. 1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) iii. 2 Ye lord off Lorne..Yat wes capitale ennymy To ye king. c1503 ( Complaynte Duke of Glouceter in R. Arnold Chron. f. cx^v/1 A capital enymyte lyke to haue endured for euer. 1566 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure I. xxviii. f. 58 In qualities, he was the Capitall enemie of mankinde. 1621 T. W. tr. S. Goulart Wise Vieillard 172 The corruption of the wicked, and of the powers of Sathan our capitall aduersary. 1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon i. iii. 109 The Bishop was his capital Enemy, and a man from whom of all others he had receiv'd the most sensible injuries. 1754 D. Hume Hist. Great Brit. I. liv. 162 The capital enemy of their country. 1826 J. Browning tr. L. Pignotti Hist. Tuscany (new ed.) III. xi. 380 Trivulzio, capital enemy of the Moor..approached Italy. 1852 T. W. Allies St. Peter ix. 284 Declaring himself signally a capital foe and traitor of Christ and our religion. 1902 Internat. Monthly 5 267 So far is it from being an apotheosis of the traditional Satan that one of the persons chiefly eulogized in it is his capital adversary, Martin Luther. 1967 M. Gruber Eng. Rev. 42 Whoever brought in innovations of religion resembling Catholicism should be considered a capital enemy of the state. 1993 Speculum 68 1010 The sentence was given by the bishop of Paris, who was a capital enemy of the duke. 3. Involving loss of the head or life. a. That causes death, fatal. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] deadlyc893 deathlyOE deathfula1250 mortalc1390 capitalc1426 exitialc1475 fey1488 mortuala1500 perishinga1500 fatal?1518 ferial1528 mortiferousa1538 deadc1540 exitious?1545 deathlike1548 mortifying1555 starvingc1600 lethal1604 speedingc1604 vital1612 irrecoverable1614 feral1621 lethiferous1651 mortific1651 mortifical1657 daggering1694 exitiose1727 fateful1764 kill-devil1831 unsurvivable1839 lethiferal1848 tachythanatous1860 c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 100 (MED) With v captel wondis fore me, synful, Þou were i-paynd apon þe cros. 1534 W. Marshall tr. Erasmus Playne & Godly Expos. Commune Crede f. 134 That, which hath ben sayde of auarice & y^e desyre of money or ryches: the same is to be thought & iudged of al vices, namely capitale & deadly. 1538 tr. Erasmus Prepar. to Deathe sig. C^v A man is sycke of a capitall and mortall syckenesse. 1593 R. Cosin Apol. for Sundrie Proc. (rev. ed.) iii. ix. 120 They giue such an oath, not only, where some corporall punishment is to be inflicted,..but, where it is capitall to the partie, or tendeth to the mutilation of limmes. a1626 F. Bacon Considerations Warre with Spaine in Certaine Misc. Workes (1629) 6 A Warre, which is Capitall to Thousands. 1686 Bp. G. Burnet Some Lett. conc. Switzerland i. 26 The Popish Cantons have made Laws, that it shall be capital to any to change their Religion. 1701 J. Collier tr. Marcus Aurelius Conversat. with Himself 11 In the Reign of Adrian an excellency of almost any kind was sometimes Capital to the Owner. 1910 Minutes Evid. 1st Rep. to Legislature State of N.Y. Comm. Employers' Liability 235/2 A man physically incapable of helping himself is liable to a capital accident. b. Of a criminal case, sentence, verdict, etc.: involving the death penalty. See also capital punishment n. at Compounds 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > [adjective] > relating to death mortalc1425 deadly1470 capitalc1475 mortuary1542 parting?1570 deada1586 defunctive1601 lethal1607 deathly1763 deathya1822 c1475 ( in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1911) 26 519 (MED) Remembre of a noble emperoure the which punysshed his one sonne of capitall payne. 1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. 184^v/1 To haue capytal sentence & be byheded. 1567 W. Painter Palace of Pleasure II. iv. f. 25^v They shoulde punishe, either by banishment or capital death. 1583 Ld. Burghley Execution of Iustice sig. B.ii No one was called to any capitall or bloody question upon matters of religion. 1690 W. Temple Ess. Heroick Virtue 46 in Miscellanea: 2nd Pt. A Censor of Justice..without whose approval, no capital Sentences are to be executed. 1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) Persons among the Athenians [sc. Exegetes]..whom the judges used to consult in capital cases. 1770 J. Langhorne & W. Langhorne tr. Plutarch Lives II. 181/2 Cimon..narrowly escaped a capital sentence. 1836 Q. Rev. July 501 Every indulgence to the criminal in capital cases throughout the code is always stated with this reserve, ‘except in cases of high treason’. 1868 Spectator 19 Dec. 1487 We never remember a capital verdict upon such insufficient evidence. 1900 Green Bag July 376/1 The constitution of Utah provides that, except in capital cases, a jury shall consist of eight men only. 1966 New Statesman 2 Sept. 306/1 Out of seven capital sentences passed at the Winter Assizes..only one was carried out. 2001 H. Collins No Smoke xii. 178 He dreads to think of the bottom landing of C-hall. The row of capital charges awaiting trial. c. Of an offence, crime, etc.: punishable by death; incurring the death penalty. See also capital murder n. at Compounds 1a. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [adjective] > punishable by death capital?1531 society > law > rule of law > lawlessness > [adjective] > types of crime generally > types of offence according to punishment penalc1443 capital?1531 purgeable1644 transportable1769 statutable1782 unclergyable1817 non-clergyable1826 extraditable1887 sanctionable1927 imprisonable1971 ?1531 J. Frith Disput. Purgatorye iii. sig. i7^v Who so ever haue committed a capitale cryme. 1585 in Jrnl. Cork Hist. & Archaeol. Soc. (1892) 33/2 Excluding pardon for any capital offence since the preceding 1st March. a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 15 in J. Ware Two Hist. Ireland (1633) It is a capitall cryme to devise or purpose the death of your King. 1659 G. Lawson Theo-politica ii. xiii. 206 Many Heathen States made it [sc. Adultery] Capital. a1688 G. Stradling Serm. & Disc. (1692) 168 The Egyptians made it Capital to affirm that their God Apis was dead. a1722 J. Toland Coll. Several Pieces (1726) I. 456 Penal Laws rendring their wilful misbehaviour capital. 1797 W. F. Mavor Hist. Acct. Voy., Trav., & Discov. VIII. 148 Maiming is punished with death, and adultery is capital to both parties. 1827 H. Hallam Constit. Hist. Eng. II. xvii. 686 It was capital to preach even in houses. 1891 T. Edwards Our Country iii. i. 120 Every felony except larceny was made capital on a second offence. 1905 Columbia Law Rev. 5 540 A woman, convicted of a capital crime, was alleged to be quick with child. 1937 C. K. Meek Law & Authority in Nigerian Tribe x. 219 At Onitsha it was a capital offence for any one to have sexual relations with a wife of the Obi. 2003 N.Y. Times Mag. 29 June 30/2 For someone who has committed a capital crime, an I.Q. score can mean the difference, quite literally, between life and death. d. Of a criminal, convict, etc.: capitally condemned; condemned to death. Also (of a judge): dealing with capital crimes. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > condemned to die capital1554 society > law > administration of justice > one who administers justice > judge > [adjective] > dealing with capital crimes capital1554 1554 J. Proctor Hist. Wyates Rebellion f. 52^v In the capitall traytours, there coulde be but great default, yet in the multitude, she was persuaded to be no malice. 1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. O6 They as Capytall Iudges geue definytiue sentence of lyfe and death. 1631 W. Gouge Gods Three Arrowes iii. §60. 295 Putting capitall malefactors to death. 1644 W. Prynne Checke to Brittanicus 4 An impenitent, obdurate, Capitall Delinquent. 1759 J. Lindsay Voy. Coast Afr. xiii. 105 All capital criminals (murderers excepted) might by the king's clemency be sent to work in the mines for life. 1771 Gentleman's Mag. July 332 The following capital convicts, who had been respited, have received his Majesty's mercy on condition of transportation [etc.]. 1816 Med. & Physical Jrnl. Mar. 251 A M. Massa, a modeller in plaster, is exhibiting at Paris the beads of famous capital felons. 1889 ‘Zeno’ Irish Minstrelsy in Ireland in '89 146 The victim condemned to the gallows was panegyrized as though he were a martyr and not a capital criminal. 1909 Law Notes Feb. 207/2 The law would never permit the execution of a capital felon without allowing him ample time in which to make spiritual preparation for his death. 1994 Jrnl. Criminal Law & Criminol. 85 236 (note) The use of reduced jury overrides..would allow a capital judge to impose a sentence of life without parole where the jury has advised a death sentence. 2006 M. A. Aldrich Search for Vanishing Beijing vi. 92 The decapitated heads of treasonous capital criminals..were hung in boxes as warnings to potential rebels. †e. Roman Law. Involving the loss of liberty, exile, the loss of civil rights, or the seizure of property. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > law > legal right > withdrawal or loss of legal rights > [adjective] > involving loss of rights by conviction infamous1548 capital1555 infamizing1827 1555 J. Wilkinson tr. L. de Avila y Cuñiga Comm. Wars in Germany sig. S.viij He is content to take awaye the banishment iustlye declared agaynste hym, and not to punyshe hym wyth payne capitall as he hathe deserued. 1635 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Donzella Desterrada ii. 130 His brother..banished him (under a capitall paine) for ever returning againe to his Countrey for any occasion whatsoever. 1696 B. Kennett Romæ Antiquæ Notitia ii. iii. xx. 141 Under the Head of Capital Punishments, the Romans reckoned extreme Banishment, because those who underwent that Sentence were in a civil Sence dead. 1774 S. Hallifax Anal. Rom. Civil Law iii. xii. 116 Of Public Judgments, some were 1. Capital; in which the Punishment prescribed was Death: which Death was (1) Natural; such as took away the Life of the Criminal. (2) Civil; such as took away his Liberty, or his Citizenship. 1838 T. Arnold Hist. Rome I. xiv. 289 The punishment of a libeller involved in it a diminutio capitis, and was thus in the Roman sense of the term capital. 1854 P. M. de Colquhoun Summ. Rom. Civil Law III. 696 An incident of capital punishment was the Confiscatio or forfeiture of goods to the State. 4. figurative. Of a defect, error, etc.: fatal, vitally injurious; very serious, radical. Now rare.In later use often passing into sense A. 6a. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > grave or serious heavy971 highOE earnestfula1400 solemn1420 weighty1489 ponderousa1500 chargeablea1513 serious1531 earnest1533 gravous1535 capitala1538 deep1598 grave1824 a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 85 You have notyd such [faults] as be most capytal. 1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxiii. 120 Immoderate exercise..a very capitall enemie to health. 1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (ii. 10) 429 It is more capitall to smite the master then a stranger. 1667 Bp. J. Taylor 2nd Pt. Dissuasive from Popery i. vii. 221 The Church of Rome..is not the less likely to erre..for thinking she cannot erre; her very thinking and saying this thing, being her most Capital error. 1779 J. Fell Dæmoniacs v. 185 This doctrine is one of the most capital errors in the Christian church, and the parent of endless superstition. 1807 Literary Panorama Mar. 1190 We conclude, by entering our protest against the total want of references; which, in a production of this kind, is a capital omission. 1821 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. (ed. 14) I. ii. 34 Hannibal's stay at Capua was a capital blemish in his conduct. 1855 W. H. Prescott Hist. Reign Philip II I. ii. v. 476 In the outset, he seems to have fallen into a capital error. 1908 Fortnightly 2 Nov. 755 It is a capital fault in a statesman to ignore racial sentiment, national feeling, religious prejudices and convictions. 1955 Times 22 Dec. 7/3 If this was not their main complaint it was a capital mistake to make it appear that it was. 2000 R. Wardy Aristotle in China i. 22 [Humboldt] pays attention to Rosemont's benighted ancestors and neatly dissects their capital mistake. II. Standing at the head. 5. Formerly of a letter or word: standing at the head of a page, passage, etc. Now of a letter: having the distinctive form and size used to begin a sentence, proper name, etc. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > written character > [adjective] > letter according to position capitala1382 heada1387 final1530 initial1622 principial1625 subscript1683 mediala1749 superscript1793 adscript1812 epenthetic1831 epenthesized1880 non-final1896 society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [adjective] > large or capital great1481 capital1584 big1688 majuscule1701 uncial1712 semi-uncial1742 a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1965) Job Prol. l. 70 Hauyn þat wiln olde bookys & in rede skynnes with gold & siluer writen or with capital lettres [L. uncialibus]. c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) i. §16. 8 This same bordure is deuyded..with 23 lettres capitals. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Boke yf Eneydos xxii. sig. F.v ^v The grete capitalle lettres of the bygynnynge..of the psalmes and chapytres..ben alle mayde fayre. ?1558 H. Baker tr. O. Fine Rules Vse of Almanackes (new ed.) sig. B.iiii^v The denominations are noted aboue y^e head of euery of the sayd columnes, by the Capital letters which hereafter folowe. ?1565 Table for Shyning of Mone in Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) p. cliv Where ye shal finde a Capital L there begine for the finding of Lent. 1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel Hist. Cambria 9 It is easy for the C. Capitall to creepe in. 1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Dd4^v To write it in such Text and Capitall Letters. View more context for this quotation 1662 S. Pepys Diary 11 June (1970) III. 106 To have the Capitall words writ with red inke. 1676 J. Moxon Regulæ Trium Ordinum 6 Capital I is all Stem, except the Base and Topping. 1724 H. Wanley Diary 14 Jan. (1966) II. 267 Leaves in folio, written in fine Capital Letters about 1100 years ago, upon Aegyptian Papyrus. 1770 P. Luckombe Conc. Hist. Printing 270 The Admirative part of a Paragraph, as well as of the Interrogatory, is always to begin with a Capital letter. 1811 J. Bannatine in Monthly Mag. 34 429 One very modern improvement in writing and printing..dropping the capital letters, except in the beginning of sentences, etc. 1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth III. x. 214 Few minds are big enough to be just to great A without being unjust to capital B. 1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 643 The upper case, having ninety-eight boxes, contains the capital and small capital letters. 1915 H. G. Wells Res. Magnificent 9 He had found the word ‘Bushido’ written with a particularly flourishing capital letter. 1942 W. Simpson One of our Pilots is Safe ii. 40 At dusk the control officer for the night arrived and arranged a path of small electric glim lamps in the form of a capital L. 1969 S. Hinton Seashore Life S. Calif. 30 The first word, always spelled with a capital initial letter, is..the name representing the genus. The second word, never with a capital initial..is the specific name. 1990 New Yorker 16 July 124/2 Oliver Stone has a taste for blood and fire... Everything is in capital letters. 6. a. Of a thing: main, principal, chief. Now rare.In quot. ?a1425: the more severe of the two kinds of ophthalmia. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important mosteOE foremostc1000 headOE headlyOE nexta1200 umest1513 primary1565 headest1577 ruling1590 forward1591 capital1597 of the first magnitude1643 palmary1646 top1647 prepondering1651 headmost1661 home1662 life-and-death1804 palmarian1815 bada1825 key1832 première1844 the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > pre-eminence > [adjective] firsteOE headOE highOE greatc1350 upperestc1374 chief1377 singular1377 principala1382 royalc1425 cardinal1440 pre-eminenta1460 praisea1475 main1480 maina1525 primary1565 captain1566 arch1574 mistressa1586 capital1597 topless1609 primea1616 metropolitan1635 transeminent1660 whole1675 uppermost1680 primus inter pares1688 topping1694 Sudder1787 par excellence1839 banner1840 primatial1892 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of things principalc1300 principal1417 supremec1550 capital1597 hegemonic1656 vital1810 big time1914 high-level1947 the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > other material1581 capital1597 supreme1791 staminal1845 red meat1968 ?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 37^v Obtalmie capitale [?c1425 Paris The cheef obtalmya; L. Obtalmia capitalis] is declared bi heuynez & akyng of the heued. c1522 T. More Treat. Memorare Nouissima in Wks. (1557) I. 85 Ii. capitall vyces, that is to wit enuye and couityce. 1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast Answere to Horne's Pref. f. 3 M. Horn shal by the very same fathers, councels, and other authorities by him selfe producted so be ouerthrowen in the chief and capital question. 1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 44 Love ys the capitall affection in men and wemen. c1626 H. Bisset Rolment Courtis (1920) II. 134/14 At the fourt and last capitall heid courte. 1671 J. Milton Samson Agonistes 394 To win from me My capital secret. View more context for this quotation a1722 E. Lisle Observ. Husbandry (1757) 136 I observed the wheat on the ground, and that the first, or capital branch, consisted of an upright spire, between two leaves. 1749 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 22 June (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1361 The Last Supper, by Paul Veronese..is reckoned his capital performance. 1815 J. P. Smith Reasons of Protestant Relig. 59 This was the capital theme on which the illustrious Reformers delighted to dwell. 1872 R. W. Dale Ten Commandm. (ed. 3) 7 The old traditions..made Obedience the capital virtue of childhood. 1926 Foreign Affairs 5 15 It [sc. American Isolationist Policy] has been the capital theme in world affairs since the signing of the Armistice. 1962 W. B. Hesseltine Tragic Confl. xxvii. 368 President Lincoln had made the subject of reconstruction the capital topic of his message in December, 1863. 2008 E. A. Rees Life of Guto'r Glyn xiv. 170 Throughout the Middle Ages, in popular thought, if not in theology, meanness or avarice was the capital sin and generosity the capital virtue. b. Of a town, mansion, estate, monastery, etc.: that is the principal of its kind (in a region, group, etc.); (also) chief, principal, main; important. Hence: designating, of, or relating to a capital city. For capital city; manor, messuage, town, see Compounds 1b. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [adjective] > chief town or capital city capital1439 metropolitan1555 metropolic?1575 metropolite1591 metropolitical1595 Metro1957 society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > a house > types of house > [adjective] > large or palatial > chief or head capital1539 1439 in H. Nicolas Proc. & Ordinances Privy Council (1835) V. 361 (MED) He hath so solemply received his unction and coronne..inne the capital cite therof, grete partie of the pieres of France beyng presend. 1527 in Southwell Visit. (1891) 132 My capitall meas in Ragenhill. 1539 Act 31 Hen. VIII v The saide manour of Hampton courte shall..be the chiefe and capitall place and parte of the saide honour of Hampton courte. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost xi. 343 This had been Perhaps thy Capital Seate, from whence had spred All generations. View more context for this quotation 1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. II. 214 The eldest son had the capital fee or principal feud of his father's possessions. 1774 T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry I. i. 18 Chained in the cloister, or church, of some capital monastery. 1861 All Year Round 21 Dec. 298/2 In the district of Columbia itself, the capital district of the Union. 1878 tr. in Trans. Shropshire Archaeol. & Nat. Hist. Soc. Apr. 188 This copy was written in the capital abbey of the monastery of Haughmond by me Master William ap Delwilk. 1923 W. Farrer Honors & Knights' Fees 32 He allowed the priory a moiety of the tithes and lands belonging to it, and a messuage, but not the capital messuage. 1986 Amer. Motorcyclist Dec. 8/1 Several other police agencies in the capital area use them [sc. motorcycles]. 2010 E. Morrison Power of Patriarchs ii. iii. 123 He was..offered a post as abbot of a capital monastery, which he refused. c. Of a person: leading, important. Now historical.Capital Justiciar: see justiciar n. 1c. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] > most important > of people mosta1300 principala1382 principal?a1425 capitalc1475 supreme1496 chief1535 leading1631 staple1642 big league1917 high-level1947 the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > pre-eminence > [adjective] > specifically of people chief138. principalc1385 capitalc1475 grand1539 c1475 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Harl. 642) (1790) 73 This sergeaunt capitall Buttler. a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) vi. l. 2285 Off þis lauche ar thre capitale..þe blak prest off Wedalle, þe thayne of Fiff, and þe..[lord] of Abyrnethyne. 1530 in J. Raine Testamenta Eboracensia (1884) V. 293 Capital Sanctes under God of the aforsaid kirkes. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxxviii. sig. Ggiv^v The craftie flie: capitall captiteyne, Opening (to the flies) my politik intent, Vnseene to the flies. 1614 T. Adams Diuells Banket v. 213 Diseases, which be Deaths capitall Chirurgions. 1683 London Gaz. No. 1866/4 The Mayor, Aldermen, Bayliff, Capital Burgesses, and Commonalty of..Waymouth. 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Capital lord..the lord of the fee. 1771 W. Smith Nature & Inst. Govt. I. 461 The king hath one proper court, even as his royal palace, and capital justices, who determine his proper causes. 1811 Risdon's Chorogr. Surv. Devon (new ed.) Addit. 426 A Mayor, assisted by 18 capital burgesses. 1858 R. W. Eyton Antiq. Shropshire VI. 130 Martin and Elina acknowledged a gift thereof [sc. 60 acres of land]..by performance of all services due to the capital Lords of the fees. 1910 W. P. Courtney Eight Friends of Great 30 The patron of this borough was an apothecary called Edmund Wilkins who paid each capital burgess the retaining fee of £30 per annum. 1970 N. Pevsner Cambridgeshire (Buildings of Eng.) (ed. 2) 498 The projecting wing at the back is said..to have been built as a hall for the Capital Burgesses. 2009 W. C. Jordan Tale of Two Monasteries iv. 93 Saving only the homage and service due to capital lords. d. gen. Prominent; important, significant; particular. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [adjective] important1444 substantious1483 sore1530 relevantc1540 importing1579 of great (little, etc.) weight1581 grave1594 dear1598 consequentious1634 concerning1641 of concern1651 consequent1659 weighty1662 interesting1711 capital1724 consequential1728 magnitudinous1777 makulu1899 operative1955 a1592 R. Greene Frier Bacon (1594) sig. G2^v Why maister Brazenhead haue you such a capitall nose. 1605 G. Chapman et al. Eastward Hoe ii. sig. B2^v A very capitall reason. So that you goe to bed late, and rise early to commit drunkennesse? 1724 A. Collins Disc. Grounds Christian Relig. 20 Several capital places in the sacred Writers. 1788 J. Priestley Lect. Hist. i. i. 5 All history has a capital advantage over every work of fiction. 1793 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 45. 355 He..espoused the daughter of a capital grocer. 1818 W. Hazlitt Lect. Eng. Poets vi. 218 So capital and undeniable a proof of the author's talents. 1874 J. E. Cairnes Some Leading Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. v. 271 I may venture to point out one capital consideration of a purely economic kind. 1909 J. R. Finlay Cost of Mining xx. 382 Kalgoorlie has one capital advantage in having a much smaller proportion of development work to do. 1965 A. Eden Reckoning 316 Now that the Soviets were under Nazi attack, the railway across the country became of capital importance. 1999 P. R. Jones Studying Parables of Jesus ii. 39 Such understanding of oneself can be found within the parables, a capital reason why they stimulate contemporary response. e. Of a ship, esp. a warship: suitable for use in the line of battle, of the line; first-rate; of the largest size.Since the early 20th cent. capital ship refers esp. to a battleship or battlecruiser, and since the Second World War (1939–45) also to an aircraft carrier. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > war vessel > [adjective] > first-rate of first rate1650 capital1654 first rate1671 1654 Mercurius Politicus No. 210. 3566 Some talk as if the States intended to send a capitall Fleet to block up the river of Lisobon. 1665 G. Downing Let. in H. T. Colenbrander Bescheiden uit Vreemde Archieven omtrent Groote Nederlandsche Zeeoorlogen 1652–76 (1919) I. 157 Letters are also to be written to all the admiralties to quicken them on in the equiping the 72 capitall ships that are to be upon the account of the Estates Generall. 1688 London Gaz. No. 2397/4 The Capital Ships are off of Torbay about 4 Leagues from the Shore. 1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade (ed. 2) 317 Tho' we destroyed so many capital Ships of France the two last Wars, yet..in some sence, the Naval Strength of France is rather encreased than diminished. 1757 T. Smollett Compl. Hist. Eng. II. iv. ii. 41 Robert de Humpreville, vice-admiral of England, entered the Frith of Edinburgh, with ten capital ships, and..destroyed the whole naval force of Scotland. 1805 D. Macpherson Ann. Commerce III. 250 They..took from our English East-India company their most important fort..; they also took one of that company's capital ships. 1871 Brett's Illustr. Naval Hist. Great Brit. xiv. 99/1 Benbow sailed with a squadron of twelve capital ships, four bomb-ketches, and two brigantines, to the coast of St. Maloes. 1900 S. R. Gardiner tr. M. de Ruyter in Lett. & Papers relating to First Dutch War II. 68 They are lying between the Isle of Wight and Portland with 45 sail, 12 of which are capital ships. 1919 Daily Tel. 11 Aug. 9/6 The battle-fleet force became a vast assemblage of capital vessels, cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers and submarines. 1928 Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inq.) v. xxx. 426 A capital-ship base at Singapore. 1944 R.A.F. Jrnl. Aug. 265 The ships lay beneath us—capital ships and cargo vessels. 1991 Japan Forum 3 239 U-boat forces were being massed and losses of capital ships in November were concern enough. 2008 N. Friedman Naval Firepower 299/1 Britain and the United States each emerged with fifteen capital ships. f. Excellent, outstanding, first-rate. Frequently as an exclamation of approval. Now somewhat dated. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > excellence > [adjective] faireOE bremea1000 goodlyOE goodfulc1275 noblec1300 pricec1300 specialc1325 gentlec1330 fine?c1335 singulara1340 thrivena1350 thriven and throa1350 gaya1375 properc1380 before-passinga1382 daintiful1393 principala1398 gradelya1400 burlyc1400 daintyc1400 thrivingc1400 voundec1400 virtuousc1425 hathelc1440 curiousc1475 singlerc1500 beautiful1502 rare?a1534 gallant1539 eximious1547 jolly1548 egregious?c1550 jellyc1560 goodlike1562 brawc1565 of worth1576 brave?1577 surprising1580 finger-licking1584 admirablea1586 excellinga1586 ambrosial1598 sublimated1603 excellent1604 valiant1604 fabulous1609 pure1609 starryc1610 topgallant1613 lovely1614 soaringa1616 twanging1616 preclarent1623 primea1637 prestantious1638 splendid1644 sterling1647 licking1648 spankinga1666 rattling1690 tearing1693 famous1695 capital1713 yrare1737 pure and —1742 daisy1757 immense1762 elegant1764 super-extra1774 trimming1778 grand1781 gallows1789 budgeree1793 crack1793 dandy1794 first rate1799 smick-smack1802 severe1805 neat1806 swell1810 stamming1814 divine1818 great1818 slap-up1823 slapping1825 high-grade1826 supernacular1828 heavenly1831 jam-up1832 slick1833 rip-roaring1834 boss1836 lummy1838 flash1840 slap1840 tall1840 high-graded1841 awful1843 way up1843 exalting1844 hot1845 ripsnorting1846 clipping1848 stupendous1848 stunning1849 raving1850 shrewd1851 jammy1853 slashing1854 rip-staving1856 ripping1858 screaming1859 up to dick1863 nifty1865 premier cru1866 slap-bang1866 clinking1868 marvellous1868 rorty1868 terrific1871 spiffing1872 all wool and a yard wide1882 gorgeous1883 nailing1883 stellar1883 gaudy1884 fizzing1885 réussi1885 ding-dong1887 jim-dandy1888 extra-special1889 yum-yum1890 out of sight1891 outasight1893 smooth1893 corking1895 large1895 super1895 hot dog1896 to die for1898 yummy1899 deevy1900 peachy1900 hi1901 v.g.1901 v.h.c.1901 divvy1903 doozy1903 game ball1905 goodo1905 bosker1906 crackerjack1910 smashinga1911 jake1914 keen1914 posh1914 bobby-dazzling1915 juicy1916 pie on1916 jakeloo1919 snodger1919 whizz-bang1920 wicked1920 four-star1921 wow1921 Rolls-Royce1922 whizz-bang1922 wizard1922 barry1923 nummy1923 ripe1923 shrieking1926 crazy1927 righteous1930 marvy1932 cool1933 plenty1933 brahmaa1935 smoking1934 solid1935 mellow1936 groovy1937 tough1937 bottler1938 fantastic1938 readyc1938 ridge1938 super-duper1938 extraordinaire1940 rumpty1940 sharp1940 dodger1941 grouse1941 perfecto1941 pipperoo1945 real gone1946 bosting1947 supersonic1947 whizzo1948 neato1951 peachy-keen1951 ridgey-dite1953 ridgy-didge1953 top1953 whizzing1953 badass1955 wild1955 belting1956 magic1956 bitching1957 swinging1958 ridiculous1959 a treat1959 fab1961 bad-assed1962 uptight1962 diggish1963 cracker1964 marv1964 radical1964 bakgat1965 unreal1965 pearly1966 together1968 safe1970 bad1971 brilliant1971 fabby1971 schmick1972 butt-kicking1973 ripper1973 Tiffany1973 bodacious1976 rad1976 kif1978 awesome1979 death1979 killer1979 fly1980 shiok1980 stonking1980 brill1981 dope1981 to die1982 mint1982 epic1983 kicking1983 fabbo1984 mega1985 ill1986 posho1989 pukka1991 lovely jubbly1992 awesomesauce2001 nang2002 bess2006 amazeballs2009 boasty2009 daebak2009 beaut2013 1713 Bibliotheca Selectissima (title page) There is a Capital Picture of Nicola Poussin, and two Excellent Heads, with three Porto Folio's of Original Italian Drawings. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsemanship vi. 26 He clears every thing with his fore legs in a capital stile. 1835 T. Hook Gilbert Gurney I. ii Nobody said capital, or even good, or even tolerable. 1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 97 Capital, Socrates; by the gods, that is truly good. 1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. 234 Dartie himself was in capital form, and talked freely. 1937 J. P. Marquand Late George Apley xxix. 330 I have a new bootlegger. He is really a capital fellow. 1982 R. Davies High Spirits viii. 76 Oh capital, capital! The very best of days, Master! 2005 W. R. Trotter Fires of Pride iv. 79 Oh, yes! Please do, Aunt Largo! I think that's a capital idea! 7. Of or relating to capital (sense B. 3a); serving as a basis for commercial or financial operations. Cf. Compounds 1c. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [adjective] > capital or principal principal1340 capital1569 1569 J. Peele Pathe Way to Perfectnes f. 13 Directlye before the sayd somme of the capitall stocke in the Inventorie. 1573 T. W. tr. Supplication Prince of Orange to Kinges Maiestie of Spayne sig. C.iv^v The tenth, and twentie penie of the capitall some of all sales. 1600 W. Vaughan Golden-groue ii. xxi. sig. P3 He that receiueth any thing ouer and aboue the capitall summe that was lent, is an vsurer. 1664 tr. F. Charpentier Treat. E.-Indian Trade 58 To reckon from the day whereupon the said Company shall have perfected their First Capital Stock. 1706 Daily Courant 16 Dec. Part of the Capital Sum of 475000 Patacoons due to the King of Prussia by Virtue of the Treaty made at Loo. 1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. ix. 115 The capital stock of Great Britain was not diminished even by the enormous expence of the late war. View more context for this quotation 1825 R. Southey in Q. Rev. 32 41 Compelled..to encroach largely upon its capital fund. 1884 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 25 689 She may commute into a capital sum..the benefit given to her..by way of annuity. 1895 Minutes Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 122 234 The engine-miles run (excluding those by ‘capital’ engines) were 58,202,648. 1926 R. H. Tawney Relig. & Rise Capitalism i. 46 Clergy who lend money to persons in need..and receive profits beyond the capital sum lent, are to be deprived of their office. 1993 Past & Present Nov. 155 The accumulated penny-a-week premiums had established a capital fund of over £26 million. 2007 G. Tegeder & I. Helbrecht in M. Elsinga et al. Home Ownership beyond Asset & Security v. 120 The capital sum borrowed is repaid on the owner's death when the house is sold. B. n.² 1. A capital letter.block, square capital: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > capital letter capital1467 square capital1699 uncial1775 block capital1902 1467 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 420 (MED) Item, for capital drawynge iij c and di., the prise, iiij d. Item, for floryshynge of capytallis, v c, v d. Item, for byndynge of the boke, xij s. 1587 F. Clement Petie Schole 59 No capitall may be written in any parte of a worde, except in the first sillabe to begin the same. 1602 J. Davies Mirum in Modum sig. C As in a booke of Decretalls, She writeth hir decrees in Capitalls. a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II cxvii, in Poems (1878) III. 166 Noe Character so small, But through that Glass appeares a Capitall. 1733 J. Swift On Poetry 8 When in Capitals exprest, The dullest Reader smoaks the Jest. 1755 J. Smith Printer's Gram. iv. 51 Some [authors]..distinguish no Substantives by Capitals, but prefix them to names of persons and places, also to titles of honour and eminence. 1842 Few Words Churchwardens (Cambr. Camd. Soc.) i. 9 They should be painted in large black letters, with all those letters in red which are printed in capitals in the Prayer Book: this is called rubricating. 1870 J. H. Burton Hist. Scotl. to 1688 VI. lxviii. 439 The Service-book was amply decorated with pictorial capitals. 1919 H. Etheridge Dict. Typewriting 125 May be in either capitals and smalls or all capitals. 1948 ‘H. Green’ Concluding 124 A letter, marked O.M.S. in great black capitals, was addressed to her personally. 2001 D. Crystal Lang. & Internet iii. 87 A distinctive feature of Internet graphology is the way two capitals are used—one initial, one medial. 2. a. A capital town or city; esp. a town or city serving as the seat of government for a country, province, state, county, or other administrative area. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [noun] > chief town or capital city headeOE mother-boroughc1225 master-borougha1325 sedea1387 chief1393 master-townc1400 metropolitan?a1439 capital city1439 master citya1450 stade1481 metropolea1500 capital1525 seatc1540 head-place1546 chamber1555 mother city1570 metropolis1584 metropolite1591 madam-town1593 capital town1601 seat-town1601 metropolie1633 megapolis1638 county seat1803 Queen City1807 metrop1888 Metroland1951 1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. f. xxxiv/1 Without any busynesse or reencounter we came to the captall. 1592 J. Eliot Survay France 82 S. Bartrand is the capitall of Cominges, and standeth on the toppe of a hill. 1618 T. Gainsford Glory Eng. i. ii. 11 The great Citie of Manquin was once Capitall of the Kingdome. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 756 Pandæmonium, the high Capital Of Satan and his Peers. View more context for this quotation 1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 49. ⁋4 He that, like Cæsar, would rather be the first man of a village, than the second in the capital of the world. 1773 Observ. State Poor 105 The few [roads], which under the direction of turnpikes,..serve to facilitate the conveyance of provision to the capital. 1818 Let. July in D. Turner Acct. Tour Normandy (1820) II. xxii. 139 Lisieux represents one of the most ancient capitals of the primitive tribes of Gaul. 1853 F. W. Robertson Serm. 3rd Ser. ix. 115 §2 A constant round from the capital to the watering place, and from the watering place to the capital. 1926 Glasgow Herald 27 Apr. 7 When he arrived in the capital of Abyssinia, Adis Ababa,..he was most kindly received by the Empress. 1965 G. McInnes Road to Gundagai 30 One day he opened an atlas of Australia and asked us to point out the six state capitals. 2009 Daily Tel. 22 July 23/1 There are plenty of outdoor events coming up in the capital of French-speaking Canada. b. In extended use. With modifying word or of. A pre-eminent centre for the specified activity, product, or industry.granite capital: see granite n. Compounds 1a. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [noun] > that which is important > most important > place capital1786 1786 J. Gillies Hist. Anc. Greece II. xxxviii. 603 The convenience of its situation, the capaciousness of its harbours, and the industrious ingenuity of its inhabitants, rendered it the commercial capital of the world. 1839 J. Paget Hungary & Transylvania I. xii. 333 Schemnitz may be considered as the mining capital of Hungary. 1865 J. G. Bertram Harvest of Sea viii. 352 The Ile de Re..in the Bay of Biscay..may now be designated the capital of French oysterdom. 1888 Bismarck (Dakota Territory) Daily Tribune 23 June 2/2 Paris has long been accounted the culinary capital of the world. 1921 Boot & Shoe Recorder 30 July 86/2 The Wisconsin metropolis, famous the world over as ‘The Convention Capital of America’. 1955 Rotarian Jan. 15/2 Chicago is the capital of the meat industry. 1972 J. Mosedale Football iv. 52 New York..is the communications capital of the world. 1999 Muzik June 7/1 In most people's eyes it will remain the clubbing capital of the Med well into the millennium. 2004 C. Connelly Attention All Shipping (2005) 189 If Plymouth left one impression on me, it was as the canoodling capital of Britain. 3. a. Real or financial assets possessing a monetary value; the stock with which a company, corporation, or individual enters into business; the total sum of shareholders' contributions in a joint-stock company; accumulated wealth or goods, esp. as used in further production. Also in plural.authorized, fixed, risk capital, etc.: see the first element; return on capital: see return n. 2e. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > wealth > wealth or riches > [noun] wealc888 ednessa1200 richessea1200 richdomc1225 richesses?c1225 wealtha1275 richesc1275 winc1275 warison1297 wonea1300 merchandisec1300 aver1330 richesc1330 substancea1382 abundancec1384 suffisance1390 talenta1400 pelf?a1505 opulence?1518 wealthsa1533 money bag1562 capital1569 opulency1584 affluency1591 affluence1593 exuberance1675 nabobism1784 money1848 society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] capital1569 capital stock1569 security1746 financial instrument1798 dead stock1836 society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal cattlec1330 chief moneyc1390 principal1390 chattel1502 stock1526 capital1569 capital stock1569 nest-egg1801 corpus1844 1547 J. Y. Christoffels Notable Woorke Bk. Accomptes ix. sig. B.ii^v The other worde, the Italians call the Capitall, that is to saie, the Stocke or principall that the Marchant began with all... And it is at your pleasure whether ye will vse this worde Stocke in Englishe, or Capitale.] 1569 J. Peele Pathe Way to Perfectnes f. 13 The stocke, or capitall, which..the owner of the accompte hathe in trafique of merchaundise committed to thorder of his servaunt. 1588 T. Hickock tr. C. Federici Voy. & Trauaile f. 40 With this onely capitall, I aduentured to goe into the Indies. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Capital, wealth, worth; a stocke, a man's principall, or chiefe, substance. 1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo ii. xx. 363 Out of all these he maketh a Stocke or Capitall, which he doth enter into a Booke called a Iournall. 1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vii. 290 Such Anticipations upon all kinds of receipts, for Monies borrowed, and already spent, that they had no Capitol for future Security. 1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 51 You began ill... You set up your trade without a capital . View more context for this quotation 1825 J. R. McCulloch Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. ii. 73 The accumulation..of the produce of previous labour, or, as it is more commonly termed, of capital or stock. 1825 J. R. McCulloch Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. ii. 114 Credit..enables those who have capitals..to lend them to those who are desirous to obtain them. 1875 A. Helps Social Pressure iii. 54 The immense difficulty that it is for any human being, without capital, to ensure himself a living. 1912 Q. Jrnl. Econ 26 320 The objective fact of increased or decreased income may exert a regulative effect on the supply of capital. 1949 E. Bowen Heat of Day iv. 68 Such capital as had not been placed in trust to provide for the widow during her lifetime went direct to Roderick. 2010 New Yorker 15 Mar. 25/1 They put up hardly any of the fund's actual capital. b. figurative. Any source of profit, advantage, power, etc.; a store of some positive or advantageous quality. Frequently with descriptive adjective. Cf. to make capital out of at Phrases 2b.human, intellectual, political capital, etc.: see the first element. ΚΠ 1818 New Monthly Mag. Sept. 139/2 An exuberance of fancy,..and a rich harmony of language, sufficient to form the entire intellectual capital of other less favoured nations. 1847 A. Helps Friends in Council I. ii. 26 To reject the accumulated mental capital of ages. 1876 ‘G. Eliot’ Daniel Deronda II. iii. xxii. 74 A political platitudinarian as insensible as an ox to everything he can't turn into political capital. 1951 Amer. Econ. Rev. 41 703 The essential thing..is the shift in importance from material to intellectual capital. 1988 Oxf. Rev. Econ. Policy Winter xi An adequate resource of appropriately trained ‘human capital’ is therefore a prerequisite for successful technology policies. 2007 Korea Herald (Nexis) 2 Mar. [He] has joined a growing number of people..who tout trust, human relations, and social networking as a new form of capital—social capital. c. The holders of wealth as a class; capitalists; employers of labour. Contrasted with labour n. 10b. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > worker > employer > [noun] > general body of employers capital1824 1824 W. Thompson Inq. Princ. Distrib. Wealth vi. 597 Should the fatal disunion between capital and labor impede..its [sc. security's] previous establishment. 1869 Eng. Mechanic 4 June 237/3 We might feel inclined to despair over the chances of Giant Capital and Dwarf Labour ever working harmoniously. 1929 D. H. Lawrence in Star Rev. Nov. 626 The Soviet hates the real physical body far more deeply even than it hates Capital. 1940 W. Temple Thoughts in War-time iv. 26 When we reach the stage of justice in the relations between capital and labour. 1999 C. Crouch in A. Gamble & A. Wright New Social Democracy 71 The confrontation between left and right, between capital and labour, has now been transcended. 4. Fortification. The line bisecting the salient angle of a work (as a bastion, redan, etc.), which divides that work into two equal and symmetrical parts. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > [noun] > construction of defensive works > guiding lines capital1631 semidiameter1669 magistral line1828 magistral1853 1631 H. Hexham tr. S. Marolois & A. Girard Art of Fortification ii. 42 After ye haue observed well the place towards which the Assaillant makes his account to beginn his approches, as towards these two Bulwarks, one might make litle ditches without them as A B C D, which are in the extention of the Capitals [Fr. és lignes capitales prolongees] beginning in the Angles A, C, of the length of 600 foote. 1686 R. Blome Gentlemans Recreation i. 177/2 Joyn the Extremities of the Sides; on the Middle raise a Line perpendicular, on which set 18 Rods for the Capital, making an Angle, and two Interior Polygons, every one of about 50 Rods, giving 10 to the Demi-Gorges, and 8 to the Flanks. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Capital, the line..drawn either from the angle of the Polygon to the point of the Bastion, or from the point of the Bastion to the middle of the Gorge. 1755 J. Muller Treat. Pract. Part Fortification iii. vi. 151 Lay the ruler on the capital OC, and place a piquet in that direction. 1834 J. S. Macaulay Treat. Field Fortification 26 Vauban strengthened the continued line with redans placed 260 yards apart, having 30 yds. of demi-gorge, and 44 yds. of capital. 1853 J. H. Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 50/1 Capital..is an imaginary line bisecting the salient angle of a work. 1905 Engineer Field Man. (U.S. Army, Corps Engineers) iv. 367 A redan consists of two lines called faces, ab and ac, fig. 48, which make an angle of about 60°. This angle is called the salient; its bisecting line ad the capital, and the line bc the gorge. †5. Probably: a high quality clay used for fine pottery. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [noun] > for making pottery > types of white claya1387 bottle clay1686 porcelain clay1690 blue clay1698 tasco1726 kaolin1728 capital1738 unaker1744 saggar1786 ball clay1811 Cornish clay1829 china-clay1840 Poole clay1875 bleaching-clay1881 pâte1890 virgin clay1891 1738 G. Smith tr. Laboratory iii. 93 One part of Capital or the Cream of Clay. 6. Finance. The amount outstanding on a mortgage, excluding interest. ΚΠ ?1760 in tr. Voltaire Hist. Russ. Empire II. 207 They who have advanced money on land in Livonia, Estonia, and the island of Oesel..shall enjoy their mortgages peaceably, until both capital and interests are discharged. 1855 Hunt's Merchants' Mag. Jan. 34 As the supply [of money] increases, the weight of the mortgage, both as regards the payment of interest and the repayment of the capital, diminishes. 1906 A. W. S. O'Sullivan tr. C. S. Hurgronje Achehnese I. ii. 294 The object of the pledge or mortgage in such cases is..to have security for the repayment of the capital with interest. 1974 Listener 24 Jan. 98/3 A building society prefers its borrowers..to stick to the simple repayment mortgage: paying back the advance over a period by monthly instalments of capital and interest combined. 1997 T. W. McRae Managing your own Finances vi. 150 When mortgagees terminate their repayment mortgage half-way through the mortgage period they are usually surprised to find that such a small portion of the capital has been repaid. 2008 Independent 7 Aug. (Extra section) 6/2 Thousands of individual mortgages and repayments of capital and interest were ‘diced and sliced’ until they yielded various returns. Phrases P1. In senses A. 5, B. 1. a. to speak in capitals: to speak or state with emphasis. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (intransitive)] > other to take the right-hand file1616 first1635 to speak in capitals?1694 to take the (or a) lead1761 to play first (or second) fiddle1778 to play first violin1780 to be no great (some great, considerable, etc.) shakes1819 to pitch it strong1823 to come out strong1825 violin1895 repeat1923 ?1694 Trial Two False Witnesses unto Late Midnight-cry 18 Those Two famous Texts following are a Sacred Coment, to confirm the Argument, and speak the same in Capital Letters, That in Jer. 18. 7. 1780 Reformer No. 3. 50 The conjunction IF, which he spoke in capitals, explained another affection. 1871 L. W. M. Lockhart Fair to See I. 4 ‘ and i am!’ cried Fuskisson, a little white ensign, speaking in large capitals, with a voice like a Jew's harp. 1921 S. Desmond Gods ii. xii. 125 ‘Haven't been in a church for thirty years, except the great Church of Nature’ (he always spoke in capitals). 2007 P. Moore Principles i. 25 Marlene speaks in capitals. She's never just tired—she's completely and utterly FRIED. b. — with a capital —: emphatically —; the real or quintessential — (introducing a repetition of the initial letter of a word, as Life with a capital L, etc.). ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > written character > [adjective] > initial letter of word repeated for emphasis — with a capital —1859 1859 Punch 22 Jan. 33/1 You thus apply the epithets sordid, base, and disgraceful. You hurl them at the head of every individual in Society—Society with a capital S. 1876 Sat. Rev. 16 Sept. 358 He..is a Being with a capital B, and is foretold by his grandfather as Deliverer with a capital D. 1902 H. James Wings of Dove iv. 66 Kate had mentioned..that her aunt was Passionate..uttering it as with a capital P. a1930 D. H. Lawrence Phoenix (1936) iv. 534 Life with a capital L is only man alive. 1966 Sunday Times 13 Nov. 10/4 A subtle attack upon the stability of our very own Monarchy, with a capital M. 2008 Independent 21 Feb. 25/4 We just went shopping. It was mad with a capital ‘M’. P2. In sense B. 3. a. to live on (also upon) (one's) capital: to spend or use up one's existing assets or resources without doing anything to replenish them. Also figurative and in extended use. ΚΠ 1774 S. Seabury Free Thoughts Proc. Continental Congr. 16 The inferior merchant is ruined; he has lived on his capital; it is gone. 1834 H. Martineau Moral Many Fables ii. 48 The case of those who are driven to live upon their capital is, at least, better than that of the party which has no capital to live upon. 1883 R. Broughton Belinda iii. vii. 330 Belinda is living on her capital. At the week's end she will be bankrupt. 1939 T. S. Eliot Family Reunion ii. ii. 105 It is as if I had been living all these years upon my capital, Instead of earning my spiritual income daily. 1991 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 15 Oct. 6 We have wrecked the planet. We are now living on our capital. 2008 J. Hart Empires & Colonies vi. 235 Its industries declining steadily and then faster in the 1930s, Britain was living on its capital. b. to make capital out of: to take advantage of (something); to turn to account. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > be advantageous or beneficial to [verb (transitive)] > take advantage of > turn to account lucrify1564 improve1604 to turn to account1679 to make much (also little, something, nothing, etc.) of1707 avail1785 to make a good thing of (also out of)1800 utilize1807 exploiter1818 to make capital out of1840 capitalize1869 1840 Universalist Union 29 Aug. 651/1 What extraordinary efforts have the Union and Messenger put forth in this business..in their attempts to make capital out of this thing. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XV. 708/2 This..counteracted all the political capital they hoped to make out of the case. 1995 Independent 29 Apr. 12/4 Labour and Liberal reaction has been so philosophically parsimonious as once again to seek to make capital out of the politics of envy. Compounds C1. Compounds of the adjective. a. In sense A. 3. capital murder n. murder for which the death penalty may be imposed. ΚΠ 1864 Soc. Sci. Rev. Nov. 468 The advocates of the abolition of capital murder will not fail to find in the case strong grounds for their argument. 1956 Hansard Commons 15 Nov. 1237/1 The distinction between non-capital murders and capital murders which is made in this part of the Bill must lead to many inconsistencies and anomalies. 2010 New Yorker 15 Feb. 58/1 This so-called Clean Team had compiled sufficient evidence to charge Mohammed and the others with capital murder. capital punishment n. [compare Middle French peine capital (1408; French peine capitale)] the death penalty for a crime. ΘΚΠ society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [noun] deatheOE justificationa1419 capital punishment1581 death penalty1836 rope1934 1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha i. xii. 68 Capitall (or deadly) punishment, is done sundrie wayes. 1717 A. Bruce Inst. Mil. Law ix. 237 Such as willingly concealed or recepted them [sc. Deserters], incurred also capital Punishment. 1829 R. Southey Sir Thomas More i. v. 109 The humanity-mongers, who deny the necessity and lawfulness of inflicting capital punishment in any case. 2005 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Jan. r3/3 Liberal minds assert that capital punishment is wrong. b. In sense A. 6. capital city n. [compare Middle French cité capitalle (a1444; French cité capitale)] = sense B. 2a; cf. capital town n. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [noun] > chief town or capital city headeOE mother-boroughc1225 master-borougha1325 sedea1387 chief1393 master-townc1400 metropolitan?a1439 capital city1439 master citya1450 stade1481 metropolea1500 capital1525 seatc1540 head-place1546 chamber1555 mother city1570 metropolis1584 metropolite1591 madam-town1593 capital town1601 seat-town1601 metropolie1633 megapolis1638 county seat1803 Queen City1807 metrop1888 Metroland1951 1439Capital cite [see sense A. 6b]. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 924 Battering Engines bent to rase Som Capital City . View more context for this quotation 1856 Life Illustr. 31 May 33/4 Washington D.C., is the ‘Capital City’. 1861 T. E. May Constit. Hist. Eng. I. 298 The representation of this capital city [sc. Edinburgh]..was returned by thirty-three electors. 2000 Building Design 11 Feb. 13/1 Developers, property owners..and local authorities have visions of regenerating our capital city and of beautifying our built environment. capital manor n. [compare post-classical Latin manerium capitale (1086, 1306 in British sources)] historical a manor held in capite, or directly from the King; cf. capite land n. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > real or immovable property > land > manor > type of manor in gross1607 royalty1652 capital manor1799 reputed manor1839 1799 E. Hasted Hist. & Topogr. Surv. Kent IV. 315/2 Notwithstanding this well-invented story of Thorn, it is more probable that this lynch was made to divide the two capital manors of Minster and Monkton. 1902 Ancestor Apr. 177 At a later time both Lostocks are found to be members of Weaverham, the capital manor with which King Edward endowed his abbey of Vale Royal. 2003 B. Graham in S. H. Rigby Compan. Brit. in Later Middle Ages i. 154 The capital manors of the most important and powerful lords were the first Anglo-Norman settlements to be granted charters in the various Irish lordships. capital messuage n. [compare post-classical Latin messuagium capitale (frequently from 12th cent. in British sources)] a messuage (messuage n.) occupied by the owner of a property containing several others. ΚΠ c1550 in F. R. Raines Hist. Chantries Lancaster (1862) I. 65 Galfride Crichlawe holdyth one capital mesuage with thappurtenances lienge in Norton in the countie of Strafforde. 1711 London Gaz. No. 4893/4 The Capital Messuage or Mansion-House, called Newborrough-Hall. 1998 M. Carlin in M. Carlin & J. T. Rosenthal Food & Eating in Medieval Europe iii. 48 (note) The common law of England..allowed a woman to remain in the capital messuage for forty days only. capital territory n. (also with capital initials) the territory containing the capital city of a country.Also in proper names with modifying word, as Australian Capital Territory, Federal Capital Territory, etc. ΚΠ 1875 H. Fuller Grand Transformation Scenes in U.S. 72 The new law, providing for three Commissioners to govern the Capital Territory of ten miles square. 1924 Times 24 May 42/7 The Commonwealth has a capital territory of 900 square miles which embraces hills and mountains and forests and rivers. 1985 A. Boden Floral Emblems of Austral. 22 The royal bluebell..was announced as the floral emblem of the Australian Capital Territory on 26 May 1982. 2008 Morning Star (Nexis) 16 May Many original residents [of Abuja] have been forced from their homes and now live in teeming slums just over the border from the Federal Capital Territory. capital town n. [compare Middle French, French ville capitale (a1417 as capital ville)] = sense B. 2a; cf. capital city n. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town or city > [noun] > chief town or capital city headeOE mother-boroughc1225 master-borougha1325 sedea1387 chief1393 master-townc1400 metropolitan?a1439 capital city1439 master citya1450 stade1481 metropolea1500 capital1525 seatc1540 head-place1546 chamber1555 mother city1570 metropolis1584 metropolite1591 madam-town1593 capital town1601 seat-town1601 metropolie1633 megapolis1638 county seat1803 Queen City1807 metrop1888 Metroland1951 1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 125 From thence..to the capitoll towne of the Arachosians [L. Arachosiorum oppidum], 515 miles. 1829 A. Royall Pennsylvania I. 10 A small wooden musical box..by mechanical invention produced the name of any capital town you called for. 1991 R. Oliver Afr. Experience (1993) vii. 88 Islam was the religion of a minority important enough to be accorded a special quarter of the capital town containing twelve mosques. capital vice n. = capital sin n. 1. ΘΚΠ society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > kinds of sin > [noun] > mortal head sinOE capital vicec1522 capital sin1550 scapea1592 cardinal sin1603 c1522Capitall vyces [see sense A. 6a]. 1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. ix. 185 Their great capital God Jupiter, guilty of almost all the capital vices. 1783 S. Gunning Coombe Wood I. v. 94 In such a heart, if I never perceived a capital vice, I sacredly declare I never yet discovered one virtue. 1882 Catholic World May 217 His capital vice of pride was one which men commonly are prone to pardon easily in a great man. 1986 S. Soriano & I. Soriano in C. Galerstein Women Writers of Spain 224 The author analyzes the capital vice of avarice, the crazed passion for money. 2004 J. Barad in S. Best & A. J. Nocella Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? 166 For Aquinas, while it is true that capital vices are never good considered in themselves, they are not necessarily evil, since they may be source of action in virtue of good. c. In sense A. 7. (Some lemmas may be regarded as compounds of the noun). capital account n. an account recording capital expenditure, or the amount of capital held by a business, country, etc.; (also) part of a nation's balance-of-payments recording the outflow and inflow of financial securities. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > account or statement of > [noun] > other types of accounts calends of exchangec1374 scorea1400 pipe1455 mensalc1475 profit and loss1553 stock1588 bank account1671 lump-account1699 revenue account1703 profit and loss account1721 sundry1736 drawing account1737 stock account?1768 private account1772 trading account1780 Flemish account1785 capital account1813 embankment1813 cost account1817 cash-credit1832 current account1846 savings account1850 deposit account1851 suspense account1869 control account1908 checking account1923 ghost account1933 numbered account1963 budget account1969 ISA1975 MSA1993 1813 Farmer's Mag. May 143 It will be transferred to the Dr side of the next year's Capital Account. 1882 R. Bithell Counting-house Dict. 244 If the Profit and Loss Account shews a nett gain the balance is placed on the Cr. side of Capital Account. 1928 Times 8 Mar. 22/3 On balance we are overspent on capital account by £1,411,811. 1932 Financial Times 28 July 4/2 Capital account has undergone considerable modification... Fewer foreign securities were offered in the American market than in any other year of the post-war period. 1991 J. Kingdom Local Govt. & Politics in Brit. xi. 175 Local authorities keep two accounts: a current account (from which they pay salaries and other running costs) and a capital account (for the purchase of capital assets such as schools, roads and buses). 2004 BusinessWeek 3 May 42/2 China's closed capital account means huge inflows from exports. capital allowance n. (a) an allowance given for the purposes of capital expenditure; (b) Finance an allowance which may be claimed against tax for all or part of certain types of capital expenditure. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > grants and allowances > [noun] > allowance > for specific purpose beggar-charge1652 vesturage1679 card money1688 mileage1724 necessary money1778 risk money1841 capital allowance1866 journey-money1883 1866 Rep. Cases Supreme Court Victoria (Austral.) 1 (Easter Term 1864) 34 The Warden first ascertains the gross sum to be allowed to the drainors [sic], including interest on capital allowance for wear and tear of machinery, and weekly expenditure. 1920 Cumulative Bull. Income Tax Rulings Dec. 1919 (U.S. Bureau Internal Revenue) 132 The value to the new owner upon which he may claim a capital allowance in computing net income is the cost to him. This is a fundamental in the basis of income taxation. 1958 Times 7 Jan. 15/1 The effect on capital allowances for profits tax purposes of new plants coming into operation. 1997 Moneywise Apr. 5/2 For example, you may be able to claim a capital allowance for your own car if you use it for work. 2007 J. Buckley & M. Schneider Charter Schools ii. 33 Charter schools receive a capital allowance of over $2,000 per student, a revenue stream against which many charter schools borrow for capital investments. 2007 Publican 23 Apr. 45/2 Purchasing customers can..claim an ECA (Enhanced Capital Allowance), entitling them to 100 per cent first year capital allowances against taxable profits. capital asset n. an asset intended for continuing use, such as land, machinery, a patent or trademark, etc.; cf. current asset n. at current adj. Additions. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal > types of stock1598 artificial capital1772 circulating capital1776 natural capital1785 money capital1791 working capital1798 reserve1819 authorized capital1825 current asset1826 loan capital1848 capital asset1851 water1867 capital equipment1893 refugee capital1926 risk capital1927 hot money1936 venture capital1943 risk money1944 exposure1975 1851 Rep. Auditor of Accts. 18 (table) in Rep. Commissioners (Parl. Papers XXX.) IX. The deficiency of capital assets to meet capital liabilities. 1921 Washington Post 16 Aug. 4/2 The bill redefines capital gain and capital loss, declaring the former to mean ‘taxable gain from the sale or exchange of capital assets’. 1990 J. K. Galbraith Financial Euphoria (1993) ii. 13 The larger the capital assets and income flow controlled, the deeper the presumed financial, economic, and social perception. 2003 BusinessWeek 12 May 13 (advt.) PeopleSoft SRM enables you to proactively control all of your enterprise spend—from direct goods to..capital assets to services. capital bonus n. a pro rata bonus distributed in shares. ΚΠ 1880 R. L. Nash Short Inq. Profitable Nature Investm. 62 The company was afflicted with the mania for issuing new capital, and declaring capital bonuses. 1928 Daily Chron. 9 Aug. 8/4 The directors..have distributed a number of capital bonuses among their fortunate Ordinary shareholders. 2006 H. Glennerster & A. McKnight in W. Paxton et al. Citizen's Stake i. vi. 98 There might be more incentives to minimise periods of long-term sickness—perhaps a capital bonus for those who make fewer calls on the sick-pay scheme. capital budget n. Finance a budget outlining the sums allocated by an organization (esp. a government, local authority, etc.) for future capital expenditure; the money available for such expenditure. ΚΠ 1878 Rep. Admin. Bengal, 1877–8 313 Permission has been obtained from the supreme Government to increase the capital account of the railway by another lakh of rupees, and a capital budget for the ensuing year has been prepared, working up to that amount. 1939 R. H. Wells Amer. Local Govt. iv. 127 New Jersey requires all local governments to prepare capital budgets and to submit them for review and approval to the state local government department. 1974 R. A. Caro Power Broker v. xxv. 551 The city had sufficient leeway in its capital budget to build the bridge itself. 2011 Hull Daily Mail (Nexis) 11 July 4 Like all NHS organisations, our capital budget has been reduced significantly as we aim to make substantial savings over the next five years. capital budgeting n. Finance the process of preparing a capital budget. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > [noun] > planning > type of capital budgeting1918 asset management1932 over-budgeting1933 ZBB1976 1918 Oelwein (Iowa) Daily Reg. 21 July 4/8 The city plan commission was studying..long-range capital budgeting and other needed municipal improvements. 1990 R. Johnson Econ. of Building xii. 137 The strategic decision making involved in capital budgeting often demands addressing a range of intangible benefits and costs that are less amenable to calculation. 2005 Financial Times 30 Sept. 8/4 Capital budgeting remains a crucial activity for companies regularly needing to purchase capital assets in order to prosper. capital cost n. a cost deriving from, or forming part of, capital expenditure. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses reparation1421 out-rent1475 farmage1650 tavernryc1650 travelling expenses1653 capital expenditure1834 capital outlay1834 travel expenses1839 capital cost1841 operating expenses1850 repair bill1858 carrying charge1879 capital spending1882 replacement cost1884 operating costs1901 carrying cost1904 user cost1922 support cost1953 1841 W. Templeton Locomotive Engine 85 (table) Capital cost. 1887 J. S. Jeans Railway Probl. iii. 46 In most other leading countries there has been an almost corresponding increase of traffic without a corresponding increase of capital cost. 1909 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. 80 15 The capital cost of an electrically driven reversing-mill is greater than that of a steam-driven mill. 1978 H. C. H. Armstead Geothermal Energy xv. 244 With conventional thermal power plants the capital cost per kilowatt installed is sensitive to what is generally known as the ‘scale effect’; that is to say, a very large plant will tend to cost less per kilowatt than a small plant of similar type. 2005 Permaculture Mag. Winter 25/1 There are also tax advantages, including being able to offset certain capital costs against tax. capital equipment n. equipment intended for continuing use by a business, organization, etc.; equipment identified as a capital asset. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal > types of stock1598 artificial capital1772 circulating capital1776 natural capital1785 money capital1791 working capital1798 reserve1819 authorized capital1825 current asset1826 loan capital1848 capital asset1851 water1867 capital equipment1893 refugee capital1926 risk capital1927 hot money1936 venture capital1943 risk money1944 exposure1975 1893 Glasgow Herald 3 Feb. 6/2 A joint-committee of the Tramway Committee and the Finance Committee recommended that the capital equipment account should be kept by the general manager's department. 1924 H. U. Faulkner Amer. Econ. Hist. 642 There had been no increase in employment relative to the increase in capital equipment. 1987 D. Clandfield Canad. Film i. 11 The advent of sound was not welcomed unequivocally by the film industry. It..meant massive capital equipment costs for studios and theatres alike. 2007 Economist 2 June 4/2 New regulations requiring companies to adopt cleaner processes will mean that capital equipment is replaced more quickly. capital expenditure n. expenditure from which benefits may be expected over a relatively long period; expenditure on capital or fixed assets; cf. capital investment n., capital spending n., capital outlay n. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses reparation1421 out-rent1475 farmage1650 tavernryc1650 travelling expenses1653 capital expenditure1834 capital outlay1834 travel expenses1839 capital cost1841 operating expenses1850 repair bill1858 carrying charge1879 capital spending1882 replacement cost1884 operating costs1901 carrying cost1904 user cost1922 support cost1953 1834 A. Gordon Treat. Elemental Locomotion (ed. 2) vi. 227 The capital expenditure amounts to nearly 1,200,000l. 1958 Economist 26 July 271 Once the basic capital expenditure has been made on a machine and microphone, this is definitely an economic proposition. 2003 Daily Tel. 17 June 32/3 The company also surprised City analysts by guiding them that it would spend well below £2.5 billion a year on capital expenditure. capital funding n. (a) capital raised by a business or company from lenders or shareholders; (b) funding for capital or fixed assets. ΚΠ 1890 Rep. State Auditor to Governor N. Dakota p. v [Paid] interest on bonds and capital funding warrants..[$]29,674.62. 1912 F. A. Cleveland & F. W. Powell Railroad Finance viii. 146 Ordinary business foresight..would dictate the financing of extraordinary expenditures of this nature in such a manner as would be suggested or required for capital funding. 1994 M. G. Pappas Biotech Business Handbk. vi. 94/1 The same capital funding sources exist for biotechnology companies today as were available over a decade ago. 2011 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 12 Feb. 2 Capital funding was set at £215.1 million for building projects including the massive redevelopment of the Southern General hospital. capital gain n. a profit from the sale of investments or property; also figurative; cf. capital loss n. ΚΠ 1582 R. Hakluyt tr. Lett. Patent Henry VII in Diuers Voy. sig. A2^v The foresaide John and his sonnes and heires, and their Deputies bee holden and bounden..to pay vnto vs in wares or money the fifth part of the Capitall gaine [L. capitalis lucri] so gotten. 1777 London Rev. Eng. & Foreign Lit. June 456 The property, of such publications, by no means stands upon the footing of that of books; from the reprint of which the capital gain arises. 1957 J. Osborne Look Back in Anger ii. i. 56 Tell me, what could be more gilt-edged than the next world! It's a capital gain, and it's all yours. 2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 308 To qualify as a regulated investment company a firm must derive at least 90% of its income from dividends, interest, and capital gains. capital gains tax n. tax on capital gains. ΚΠ 1937 Times 20 May 7/1 He hoped the British Parliament would not pass a law such as they had in the United States, the Capital Gains Tax, which was really a part of the income-tax. 1966 Economist 23 July 380/1 The Revenue Service..will no longer permit investors to defer capital gains tax. 2006 Art Rev. Aug. 68/1 The seller must pay 28 per cent in capital gains tax and hefty auction house fees for the catalogue, insurance and storage. capital gearing n. Finance (chiefly British) the ratio of debt to equity in a company's balance sheet, used as a measure of the extent to which debt has been used to fund the assets of a business, and also to assess the risk inherent in the capital structure of the firm; cf. capital leverage n. ΚΠ 1931 Economist 16 May 1054/2 A crucial factor may be the relative importance of preference shares and debentures in the capital structure of a given company—or, to use a convenient term, the capital ‘gearing’. 1999 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 11 Feb. 23 The bank's ongoing attention to capital management will include consideration of a further buyback on market and improved capital gearing. 2010 D. J. Spurling Introd. Transport Econ. xx. 294 The different capital gearing will tend to make some profits seem much higher than others, even when both firms are operating with the same degree of efficiency. capital goods n. economic goods (e.g. railways, ships, machinery, buildings) destined for use in production (as opposed to consumers' goods). ΚΠ 1899 J. B. Clark Distrib. Wealth ix. 116 The differences that science must recognize between ‘capital’ and ‘capital-goods’. 1931 Times Trade & Engin. Suppl. 24 Jan. 430/4 The production of ‘capital goods’ which are not ‘consumed’ immediately the money is spent upon them, but contribute a quota to the national wealth over many future years. 2006 D. Edgerton Shock of Old iii. 63 Collectivisation was..driven..by a political imperative..to pay for tractors and other capital goods. capital improvement n. an improvement involving capital expenditure; an improvement to a capital asset. ΚΠ 1794 J. Tuke Gen. View Agric. N. Riding Yorks. 96 It would be to the advantage of the landlord, as well as tenant, if the former were to be at the expence of all capital improvements, such as buildings, the planting of new fences, draining, and such like improvements. 1801 J. Lawrence Mod. Land Steward 72 He [sc. the landlord] ought also to resolve on doing all the capital improvements of draining, marling, new fencing, and the like, himself. 1899 Railway News 3 June 887/2 $1,000,000 will be reserved for the future with a view to possible capital improvements and betterment of the line. 1946 S. E. Sanders & A. J. Rabuck New City Patterns iv. 43 Two of the tools for facilitating execution of master plans are the long-range capital improvements program and the capital budget. 1998 S. Dobyns Church of Dead Girls i. ii. 20 In his editorials Franklin began to argue that the city council needed to adopt a five-year capital-improvement plan. 2005 Financial Times 4 Jan. 18/2 The company has invested more than £24m in refurbishment and capital improvement projects. capital investment n. investment from which benefits may be expected over a relatively long period; investment in capital or fixed assets; (also) an instance of this. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > investment > other types of investing or investment perpetual1833 fundholding1835 capital investment1842 floating1888 flotation1889 carried interest1908 ethical investment1915 National Savings1919 locking up1924 ploughing-back1924 foreign portfolio investment1951 inward investment1962 round-tripping1973 short-termism1986 1842 Standard 20 Dec. 3/5 The high rate of money interest and the low price of labour in India will show the advantageousness of capital investment there in useful undertakings, such as banks, railroads, irrigating canals, &c. 1898 Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly Jan. 63/2 These [factories] would represent a capital investment of $300,000,000 in buildings, machinery, and other equipments. 1946 Fortune Aug. 108/2 It [sc. the firm] does not buy or build its processing plants, but keeps capital investment low by retaining them on long-term leases. 1983 Chem. Week 25 May 37/1 The aprotic solvents are expensive and the purification equipment that is necessary to recover them entails a considerable capital investment. 2008 S. A. Roosa Sustainable Devel. Handbk. vi. 184 Once mechanical infrastructure is in place, capital investment is necessary for improvements. capital leverage n. Finance (chiefly U.S.) = capital gearing n. ΚΠ 1940 Wall St. Jrnl. 12 Mar. 15/2 In the case of liquidating value of junior securities there is room for considerable variation due to the capital leverage. 1998 C. L. Cooper & C. Argyris Conc. Blackwell Encycl. Managem. 34/1 Both capital leverage..and income gearing.., together with high levels of indebtedness in the economy, may lead to companies' insolvencies. 2008 C. R. Morris Two Trillion Dollar Meltdown (rev. ed.) vi. 134 Over an asset boom and bust cycle, commercial banks tend to preserve a roughly constant level of capital leverage. capital liability n. a debt or obligation resulting from capital expenditure; cf. capital asset n., current liability n. at current adj. Additions. ΚΠ 1851 Rep. Auditor of Accts. 18 (table) in Rep. Commissioners (Parl. Papers XXX.) IX The deficiency of capital assets to meet capital liabilities. 1912 Times 19 Dec. 18/5 The scheme provided for the writing off of capital liabilities. 1990 P. Bosley Light Railways in Eng. & Wales iv. 52 It can be argued that several of these railways..saddled themselves with heavier capital liabilities than they need have done. 2003 C. Webster & L. W. Lai Prop. Rights, Planning & Markets viii. 191 It proposed that a municipal government agency..assume ownership of the capital liability of the Underground. capital loss n. a loss from the sale of investments or property; cf. capital gain n. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > financial loss > [noun] reprisea1393 underbalance1641 capital loss1727 write-off1858 shortfall1953 1727 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman II. i. iii. 105 One Adventure in Trade draws in another, till at last comes a capital Loss, which weakens the Stock, and which wounds the Reputation. 1783 Hibernian Mag. July 338/1 Several capital losses occurring almost at the same time, the state of their pecuniary affairs became so disarranged and embarrassed, that a bankruptcy ensued. 1894 R. T. Ely Socialism 118 If we divide the sum by two..we have a capital loss of two thousand five hundred millions of dollars. 1921 Washington Post 16 Aug. 4/2 The bill redefines capital gain and capital loss, declaring..capital loss to mean ‘deductible loss resulting from the sale or exchange of capital assets’. 1994 What Investm. Jan. 10/3 Should an asset be owned, the value of which has become negligible, a claim can be made to crystallise this capital loss without actually disposing of the asset. 2009 B. A. Bahbah Wealth Managem. in any Market ix. 216 The IRS allows you to offset your capital gains with capital losses. capital outlay n. = capital expenditure n.; (also) an instance of this. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses reparation1421 out-rent1475 farmage1650 tavernryc1650 travelling expenses1653 capital expenditure1834 capital outlay1834 travel expenses1839 capital cost1841 operating expenses1850 repair bill1858 carrying charge1879 capital spending1882 replacement cost1884 operating costs1901 carrying cost1904 user cost1922 support cost1953 1834 Caledonian Mercury 25 Dec. 3/4 There is not a Railway in the kingdom of which the maintenance and management do not cost more than five per cent. on the capital outlay. 1887 J. S. Jeans Railway Probl. xxiii. 358 Although the capital outlay on English railways is phenomenally high, so also is the volume of their traffic, and their average gross and net receipts per mile. 1932 Accounting Rev. 7 35/1 This forecast those in charge of finance must balance against the expected cost of sales..other expenses, and capital outlays thought necessary to effect the projected sales. 1987 I. Radforth Bushworkers & Bosses iv. 71 Reforestation and sustained-yield operations required large capital outlays, but short-sighted executives provided only meagre funding for such work. 2006 Economist 16 Sept. 104/2 The designers of the plant..managed to slash their capital outlay by substituting mass-produced parts from air-conditioners for the bespoke components of most geothermal plants. capital profit n. = capital gain n.; cf. capital loss n. ΚΠ 1656 in Coll. State Papers J. Thurloe (1742) V. 629 For the capital profit upon the gold, and interest of 7000 l. sterl. that is to say, there is 142 l. 7 s. more than what I received of Mr. Tronchin. 1774 J. W. Baker Exper. in Agric. 1773 41 Making capital profit by clover, depends upon the condition of the land. 1835 W. Greener Gun xii. 62 If..he can drive an advantageous bargain with the forger, he saves the cost of his iron, and makes a capital profit by the deduction from the price of the forger's labour. 1870 Economist 16 July 888/1 The second part of the book contains four ruled columns for an account of all purchases and sales, which will show at once the capital profit or loss on every transaction when completed. 1923 L. R. Robinson Foreign Credit Facilities in U.K. xii. 163 In many annual reports no mention is made of capital profits among the profit and loss items. 1997 T. W. McRae Managing Your Own Finances vi. 187 It would be unwise to assume that substantial capital profits can be made on an investment in housing in the future. 2011 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 30 Apr. These figures do not include the huge capital profits realised by the original United States investors when they sold their Telecom stakes. capital project n. a large-scale project entailing major expenditure. ΚΠ 1890 Manch. Guardian 23 Dec. 4/1 In the Industrial market a feature has been the weakness of Allsopp Brewery shares on discussion of the new capital project. 1908 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. Feb. 140 Every bank now has more good customers than it can keep supplied,..advising many that for the present they must positively give up new capital projects and continue on their existing scale of operation. 1996 S. Etherington in C. Harvey & T. Philpot Sweet Charity i. 13 New monies are available to the arts, sports and environmental fields for capital projects. 2009 Vanity Fair Aug. 111/1 Harvard's hostile fiefdoms are pointing anonymous fingers, each accusing another of ‘pulling the trigger’ on this and that high-ticket capital project. capital spending n. = capital expenditure n. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [noun] > expenses > other expenses reparation1421 out-rent1475 farmage1650 tavernryc1650 travelling expenses1653 capital expenditure1834 capital outlay1834 travel expenses1839 capital cost1841 operating expenses1850 repair bill1858 carrying charge1879 capital spending1882 replacement cost1884 operating costs1901 carrying cost1904 user cost1922 support cost1953 1882 Pall Mall Gaz. 1 July 2/1 Unless a great change takes place in the capital spending policy of not a few among them [sc. railway companies]..the time cannot be far distant when dividends must be reduced. 1941 B. U. Ratchford Amer. State Debts 590 It [sc. a capital budget] gives perspective and method to capital spending and enables state officials and legislators to see the whole picture and thus to keep the various parts in correct proportion. 1994 Wall Street Jrnl. 25 Feb. b1/3 Most cable operators say they will be forced to cut capital spending, slowing construction of the vaunted information superhighway. 2011 R. A. W. Rhodes Everyday Life in Brit. Govt. 228 There can be no serious planning for flood management without them [sc. the Treasury] because the scale of capital spending is potentially enormous. capital stock n. an aggregate of an organization's assets; = sense B. 3a. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] capital1569 capital stock1569 security1746 financial instrument1798 dead stock1836 society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > provision of capital > capital or principal cattlec1330 chief moneyc1390 principal1390 chattel1502 stock1526 capital1569 capital stock1569 nest-egg1801 corpus1844 1569 J. Peele Pathe Way to Perfectnes f. 13 Directlye before the sayd somme of the capitall stocke in the Inventorie. 1730 H. Fielding Temple Beau v. xv. 71 Here is twenty thousand Pounds Capital Stock fallen into your Hands, and wou'd you let it slip? 1845 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 I. viii. 494 The state of the money market rendered it unadvisable to increase the Company's capital stock. 2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 249 An owner of nonassessable capital stock can lose no more than his or her original investment. capital structure n. Finance the relative distribution between debt and equity of the overall finance of a company or other business concern. ΚΠ 1913 Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Aug. 5/5 The heavy bonded indebtedness that had been saddled on the road originally... To relieve the road of this burden its capital structure was materially lightened and fixed charges reduced by over 30%. 1989 S. A. Fox Keys to Incorporating xix. 70 The totality of the enterprise's debt and equity securities is known as the capital structure. 2002 E. McLaney & P. Atrill Accounting (rev. ed.) vii. 215 The gearing ratio measures the contribution of long-term lenders to the long-term capital structure of a business. capital surplus n. Accounting the amount of the surplus of a business which arises from sources other than earnings. ΚΠ 1890 L. E. Daniell Types of Successful Men of Texas 65 In 1887 our bank was converted into the Corsicana National Bank, with a capital surplus of 125,000.00. 1904 Accountant 15 Oct. 401/1 In stating the surplus account in the Balance Sheet, the current or revenue surplus should be shown distinct from the capital surplus. 1998 Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) (Nexis) 11 Jan. a1 The 1998 plan called for the agency to dig into capital surplus funds to balance the books. 2004 M. R. Ahmad Inflation Accounting Pract. in India's Corporate Sector iii. 111 The account resulting from revalorization of the assets was included with capital surplus on the balance sheet. capital value n. the market value of a long-term investment or asset. ΚΠ 1706 Daily Courant 17 Dec. 1/2 His Catholick Majesty..demands that all the Church Plate be lent him, to enable him to pay his Troops, and promises to pay the Capital Value with Interest as soon as he has Ability. 1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations II. v. ii. 467 When property changes hands..such taxes have frequently been imposed upon it as necessarily take away some part of its capital value . View more context for this quotation 1816 Morning Chron. 17 June 2/2 The yearly revenue is estimated at 850,000 francs, and the capital value at 5 per cent. at 17 millions of francs. 1864 W. Russell Eccentric Personages I. 77 The relative..bequeathed to him her whole property, landed estate and money, amounting, in capital value, to the enormous sum, in those days, of fifty odd thousand pounds. 1929 Star 21 Aug. 19/1 It is interesting to record that some of our recommendations have duly improved in capital value. 1991 M. Ridge & S. Smith Local Taxation: Options & Arguments (IFS Rep. Series) 10 The consultation paper proposed a new tax called the ‘council tax’ which would allocate properties into one of seven bands on the basis of their capital value. 2007 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 15 Sept. 7 Rating authorities, including local councils, use site or capital values to levy rates and taxes. C2. Compounds of the noun (in sense B. 3). (Some quots. may exemplify the adjective.) capital accumulation n. the accumulation of capital, either by a single individual or business, or by an economy or society as a whole. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > management of national resources > [noun] > political economy > specific theories or doctrines > value, accumulation, or reproduction of capital reproduction1766 capital accumulation1863 organic composition of capital1887 primitive accumulation1887 primitive socialist accumulation1950 1863 Grant County (Wisconsin) Herald 29 Sept. 2/4 The total amount of capital accumulation in the hands of the Madison Mutual Insurance Company is reported at $420,827 to secure the 20,000 policies granted. 1878 Standard 17 Jan. 5/4 Down to 1875..not only were there no signs of the decline which has been spoken of, but there was abundant evidence of a continuous and large increase in the rate and quantity of capital accumulation. 1948 O. C. Cox Caste, Class, & Race ix. 143 Ambition, plutarchy, capital accumulation, exploitation, nationalism, humanitarianism, idealism, and so on, characterize this way of life. 1987 W. Greider Secrets of Temple i. v. 172 Moral contempt for bankers and their power over others would endure across the centuries and into the present time, but the process of capital accumulation established its own justification. 2006 Financial Times 27 Apr. 17/2 A sophisticated financial system is supposed to encourage capital accumulation. capital adequacy n. Finance the statutory minimum reserves of capital which a bank or other financial institution must have available; frequently attributive, esp. in capital adequacy ratio (cf. capital ratio n.). ΚΠ 1930 J. S. Lawrence Banking Concentration in U.S. ix. 195 Capital adequacy comes only as economic maturity is realized. 1993 B. Farthing Internat. Shipping (ed. 2) xii. 168 All banks from the G10 group also have to conform nowadays to new rules about what is termed ‘capital adequacy’. 2006 Financial Times 29 June 17/1 Bad loans have been flushed out and capital adequacy ratios boosted. capital appreciation n. = capital growth n.; cf. capital depreciation n. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > money > value of money > [noun] > rise or increase in value appreciation1777 capital appreciation1888 deflation1920 disinflation1947 upvaluation1953 1888 Sat. Rev. 4 Feb. 133/2 The buying of dividend-paying stocks will lead in due course to the buying of purely speculative stocks, purchasers hoping that they will receive in the capital appreciation of what they purchase compensation for the non-receipt of dividend. 1910 H. Withers Stocks & Shares xi. 317 The real investor looks most of all to security of income and least to the hope of capital appreciation. 1991 Independent 5 Jan. 19/1 Terminal bonuses are paid on policies when they mature and reflect capital appreciation over the term of the policy. 2004 C. R. Geisst Deals of Cent. v. 189 Junk companies notoriously had erratic cash flows..but also had the potential to present investors with strong capital appreciation. capital consumption n. the depreciation in the value of capital goods in an economy during a specified period; frequently attributive (in Accounting), esp. in capital consumption allowance. ΚΠ 1907 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. Sept. 77 There is all the time an offset in capital consumption to more than balance the scales on which is placed our new wealth. 1984 L. Osberg Econ. Inequality in U.S. v. 86 Since some capital equipment is used up in the process of production, one must subtract ‘capital consumption allowance’ from GNP figures to get Net National Product (NNP). 2006 R. Higgs Depression, War, & Cold War i. 7 From 1929 to 1941, the capital consumption allowance amounted to 8 to 10 percent of GNP. capital control n. the regulation of capital, esp. the regulation of the movement of capital into and out of the domestic economy; a measure to achieve such regulation. ΚΠ 1914 Jrnl. N.Y. State Teachers' Assoc. 15 June 168/2 Why..should the boy or girl be sent out of the high school without a good understanding of the more important questions of capital control, labor organization,..etc.,..which go so far in providing an understanding of our economic structure? 1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) iii. 61 All Western countries have found that without capital controls they risk capital flight and an imposed hike in interest rates. 2010 Wall St. Jrnl. 5 Jan. c10/5 Policy makers face the delicate task of discouraging speculators without scaring off long-term investors. Anything too onerous will be labelled ‘capital controls’, causing investors to flee. capital deepening n. Economics an increase in the amount of capital put into a process, economy, etc., relative to the amount of labour, resulting in a rising capital–labour ratio; cf. capital widening n. ΚΠ 1937 Economica 4 277 The multiplier which is implicitly used is the ex-post multiplier which does not suffer from the shortcoming of the neo-Cambridge school in excluding the capital ‘deepening’ phenomenon in the cumulative process. 1999 Economist 20 Nov. 65/2 About a third of the improvement in potential productivity..comes from capital deepening, which largely reflects investment in..computers. 2009 R. J. Barbera Cost of Capitalism viii. 100 By giving Asian workers more machines—capital deepening—their productivity rose rapidly, supporting rapid economic growth rates. capital depreciation n. a decrease in the value of the assets owned by a person, company, etc.; cf. capital appreciation n. ΚΠ 1875 Glasgow Herald 7 June 6/2 In such circumstances your directors consider it satisfactory and reassuring to be able to announce the earning of a dividend after providing amply for capital depreciation. 1937 R. G. Hawtrey Capital & Employm. vii. 210 Few, if any, capitalists would so greatly fear capital depreciation as to keep the whole of their resources uninvested. 1999 N. T. Macdonald Macroecon. & Business (2002) ii. 43 The concept of capital depreciation leads to the distinction between gross investment and net investment. 2011 Irish Times (Nexis) 4 May 21 The moderate easing in rental value decline has led to a slowing in the rate of capital depreciation in the market. capital duty n. = capital tax n.; spec. a stamp duty payable on the formation of companies, the issue of shares, etc. ΚΠ 1889 Financial Times 3 Sept. 2/4 The capital of the August companies..exceeds by a very safe margin Mr. Goschen's estimate when imposing the capital duty by his Budget of last year. 1926 Jrnl. Inst. Actuaries 57 253 The Committee was obviously impressed by evidence as to the serious handicap on enterprise caused by the present high rate of capital duty. 1996 J. P. Vanderwolk in C. D. Booth Hong Kong Commerc. Law vii. 193 The investment of share capital in a Hong Kong company produces a liability for capital duty. 2005 Irish Times (Nexis) 8 Dec. 3 Financial Services Ireland welcomed the abolition of capital duty, saying it would create greater Irish influence on key investment decisions by foreign firms. capital flight n. [probably after German Kapitalflucht (1858 or earlier)] Finance the movement of capital out of a region of economic instability; an instance of this; cf. flight n.² 1f. ΚΠ 1921 N.Y. Times 16 Aug. 1/5 A great new ‘capital flight’, precipitated by the Government's confiscatory tax plans, is driving Germans to convert their paper marks into dollars. 1991 South Aug. 28/3 During the 1980s, with 80% of the people of Latin America in acute poverty, these countries lost $296bn in debt servicing and another US$150bn in capital flight. 2003 D. L. Scott Wall St. Words (ed. 3) 50 Capital flight results in further deterioration of a currency's exchange rate. capital flow n. = capital movement n.; cf. capital inflow n., capital outflow n. ΚΠ 1925 Washington Post 28 Apr. 3/1 (heading) No reason why capital flow should not be resumed, is New York view. 1993 A. Toffler & H. Toffler War & Anti-war v. xix. 185 The rise of knowledge-intensive, high-tech economies is also marked by..the liberalization of capital flows. 2003 Nation 1 Dec. 18/2 The phrase ‘emerging market’ only came into common use in the 1980s, but capital flows into developing countries..have a much longer history. capital formation n. Economics the fact or process of generating capital. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > income, revenue, or profit > getting or making money > [noun] winninga1300 purchasec1325 lucrec1380 chevisancea1400 framing1440 lucring1574 lucrifaction1606 lucration1658 money-making1785 realization1799 money getting1836 capital formation1889 1889 R. T. Ely Introd. Polit. Econ. v. 270 It is to be noticed that governments are more or less prominent in capital-formation. 1949 Sun (Baltimore) 19 July 12/2 Mr. Nathan insists that the recession through which we are moving is due to the heavy capital formation of the last two years. 1995 C. Dunn Canad. Polit. Deb. vi. xi. 269 The most important aspect of economic democracy was the participation of employees rather than government per se in capital formation by way of ‘wage-earner funds’. 2006 Financial Times 1 Aug. 13/1 Excessive and costly regulation..is having a stifling effect on capital formation and economic growth. capital growth n. an increase in the value of the assets owned by a company, person, etc.; cf. capital appreciation n. ΚΠ 1879 Railway Times 30 Aug. 712/1 I would refer to the capital growth during that period... The singular feature is that there has been a steady rate of progression of capital of about 70 per cent. every ten years. 1906 Economist 15 Sept. 1512/2 There has..been a pause of four years in the capital growth of the two companies. 1989 W. Boroson Keys to investing in Mutual Funds xxiv. 69 This type of fund attempts to combine long-term capital growth with a steady stream of income. 2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 22 Feb. iii. 7/2 This is not a share for dividend seekers, but for those looking for longer-term capital growth. capital inflow n. the net movement of capital into a country's economy; the movement of foreign-owned capital or assets into a country, or a decrease in the assets a country holds abroad; (also) an instance of this; cf. capital outflow n. ΚΠ 1900 Statist 27 Oct. 662/1 India's demand for silver is chiefly dependent upon the balance of trade—including the capital inflow—in favour of that country. 1993 J. de Larosière in C. I. Bradford Mobilising Internat. Investm. for Lat. Amer. i. 18 An excessive rate of capital inflow may become a cause of imbalance by increasing inflationary pressures and inducing an excessive increase in the real exchange rate. 2007 Economist 15 Dec. 88 Some fear—and others hope—that the dearer rupee will prompt India to..tighten its controls on capital inflows. capital injection n. the investment of capital into a company, esp. one which is starting up or experiencing financial problems; an instance of this. ΚΠ 1930 G. Wood Borrowing & Business in Austral. x. 124 It now remains..to indicate how fluctuations in the rate of capital injection are followed by corresponding oscillations in prosperity as marked by available bank credit. 1996 Financial Times 11 Jan. 28/7 Aérospatiale, the French state-owned aerospace group, might need a capital injection from an outside company. 2010 D. Snider & C. Howard Money Makers i. 21 Banks that took significant capital injections from the federal government..may have to bear the brunt of higher government scrutiny and regulations. capital intensity n. [probably after German Kapitalintensität (1867 or earlier)] Economics the amount of capital required for a production process, in relation to other factors, esp. labour; the ratio reflecting this relationship. ΚΠ 1930 G. M. Peterson & J. D. Black in Res. Public Finance in Relation to Agric. (Social Sci. Res. Council Bull. No. 1) 112 Labor intensity can be measured in terms of input in physical terms; also livestock intensity. Other forms of capital intensity are best measured in terms of value. 1997 W. G. Roy Socializing Capital vii. 205 The capital intensity for the [sugar] industry was $9.54 capital for every dollar in wages. 2008 Transition No. 99. 151 Because of its capital intensity, oil production requires huge investments. capital-intensive adj. (of a business or industrial process) requiring the investment of large sums of money; cf. labour-intensive adj. at labour n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > expenditure > [adjective] > involving great or excessive expenditure dear1044 chargeous138. wastyc1380 dear-boughtc1384 costlewa1387 costlya1425 costy?c1430 costfulc1450 costablea1475 chargeable1480 sumptuous1485 chargeful1529 deep1608 tributary1632 burdenablec1650 expensivea1661 consumptive1753 capital-intensive1907 1907 R. Zon in L. H. Bailey Cycl. Amer. Agric. (ed. 2) II. 323/1 All of this..has..led to designating forestry as a ‘capital intensive’ industry. 1992 Investors Chron. 23 Oct. 14/1 Avoid companies that are capital intensive and are always requiring more money for new machinery or even worse, for the replacement of old machinery at a vastly higher cost. 2002 D. Goleman et al. Business: Ultimate Resource 874/1 Capital-intensive businesses can usually maintain greater debt-to-capital ratios for the same level of borrowing costs as businesses that are less capital intensive. capital levy n. the raising of tax on capital assets such as privately owned wealth or property (as distinct from taxation of income or interest, etc.); (also) an instance of this; cf. capital tax n. ΚΠ 1885 Bismarck (Dakota Territory) Daily Tribune 25 Nov. Bussey..paid taxes for 1883 to the amount of $3.66 of the capital levy. 1920 R. Muir Liberalism & Industry xvii. 178 If a capital levy can be proved the best way..out of our difficulties, it ought to be adopted. 2010 Guardian (Nexis) 21 May 37 Why not a capital levy and a wealth tax to tackle the deficit and reduce inequality at the same time? capital market n. Finance (also in plural) the part of a financial system concerned with raising capital by dealing in shares, bonds, and other long-term investments. ΚΠ 1849 T. H. Milner Some Remarks Bank of Eng. 44 I have suggested a test..by which to judge of the general condition of the capital market, and which will shew when a scarcity of capital is threatened. 1896 19th Cent. Apr. 577 If we lend afresh and take more risks, it is less because we have more faith in foreign creditors or enterprises than because the condition of the capital market at home is become unbearable. 1935 Economist 4 May 1009/1 A number of corporate refunding issues have been successfully offered.., leading the Secretary of the Treasury to affirm that the ‘log-jam in the capital market’ has at last been broken. 1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) vi. 165 In the capital markets..the preoccupation with liquidity has been worsened by the slew of new financial instruments or ‘derivatives’. 2006 Financial Times 15 Dec. 25/1 Investors appear concerned that recent near-perfect capital market conditions will not continue. capital movement n. a transfer of capital, esp. between countries, either by companies or individuals (usually in plural); (also) such transfers considered collectively. ΚΠ 1869 Merchants' Mag. Mar. 222 The General Balance Sheets for each of the five years..show the capital movements and balances to credit and debit at the dates respectively. 1901 Financial Times 21 Sept. 3/6 The fundamental principle of the bank is to give the greatest possible mobility to its funds, so much so that the general capital movement during 1900 in respect of all its transactions is returned at £345,975,773. 1918 Ann. Amer. Acad. Polit. & Social Sci. 75 230 Capital movements may be discouraged by the interposition of obstacles in the way of foreign enterprises. 2010 Irish Examiner (Nexis) 29 Jan. The index measures openness to trade, capital movements, exchange of technology and ideas, labour movements and cultural integration. capital outflow n. the net movement of capital out of a country's economy; the movement of domestically owned capital abroad, or an increase in the assets a country holds abroad; (also) an instance of this; cf. capital inflow n. ΚΠ 1897 Statist 27 Nov. 836/2 It is interesting to note the effect upon our export trade of free capital outflow from this country to Australasia and to Argentine. 1937 Amer. Econ. Rev. 27 161 Should not a country be in a position to raise its currency to stop an undesired capital inflow and to lower it to prevent an undesired capital outflow? 1996 W. Hutton State we're In (rev. ed.) x. 281 The US is increasingly unable to..control its capital outflows. 2007 Economist 25 Aug. 71/3 Most Asian economies are also much less vulnerable to capital outflows than they used to be. capital–output ratio n. Economics the ratio of the amount of capital invested in a process, economy, etc., to the value of the return on such investment; cf. capital-to-output ratio n. ΚΠ 1942 W. Fellner Treat. War Inflation ii. 28 It may be assumed that the capital-output ratio was..roughly the same in 1939 as ten years earlier. 1993 Observer (Nexis) 14 Mar. 30 Assuming a capital-output ratio of three to one, the capital required to bring eastern Germany..up to Western standards is enormous. 2006 F. H. Ono & J. L. Oreiro in N. Salvadori Econ. Growth & Distribution vi. 124 A common assumption adopted in models that follow a post-Keynesian tradition is the constancy of the capital-output ratio. capital raising n. (a) the action or process of obtaining capital; (b) the issue of new stock by a company in order to acquire funds; an instance of this; frequently attributive. ΚΠ 1846 Herapath's Railway & Commerc. Jrnl. 21 Nov. 1461/2 That the proposed subscription by this Company towards the capital raising for the purchase of the present Sutton Pool Company's undertaking..be approved. 1896 Investors' Rev. Sept. 157 This is not an enormous sum, measured by their present resources, their expanding traffic, and their practically unlimited capital-raising powers. 1920 Daily Mail 21 Oct. 3/3 That the directors..have courage is indicated by their launching of the new capital raising proposals without underwriting in the midst of a national coal strike. 1989 R. Millward in D. Cobham et al. Money, Trade & Paym. x. 196 Prior to the 1835 Municipal Corporation Act, much local administration was inefficient and capital raising powers were limited. 2002 J. Carmichael & M. Pomerleano Devel. & Regulation of Non-Bank Financial Inst. ii. 63 Rules governing the issuing of prospectuses for capital raisings are important for building investor confidence in the market. capital ratio n. Finance the ratio of available capital to assets held by a bank or other financial institution, used esp. as a measure of capital adequacy. ΚΠ 1909 Washington Post 20 Oct. 6/6 The capital ratio in State banks has declined from 41 per cent in 1878 to 18 per cent in 1908. 1962 R. S. Sayers & W. Linder in R. S. Sayers Banking in W. Europe iv. 178 Their special position under the banking code excuses them [sc. Swiss private banks] from regulation of their capital ratios and of accumulation of reserves. 1983 Financial Times 5 Sept. 12/8 U.S. bank regulators..issued new capital adequacy guidelines... Multinational banks..were asked to observe a minimum 5 per cent capital ratio. 2011 F. de Weert Bank & Insurance Capital Managem. xiv. 131 From a solidity perspective, a bank likes to have as high a capital ratio as possible. capital redemption reserve n. Finance a reserve fund created in the event of a company purchasing its own shares in circumstances resulting in a reduction of share capital, in order to protect creditors by ensuring that the assets representing the company's capital are not reduced. ΚΠ 1920 W. R. Skinner Mining Man. 190 Capital redemption reserve £1,575. 1999 E. M. Ferran Company Law & Corporate Finance xiii. 444 The requirement to make a transfer to the capital redemption reserve applies only to the extent that the buy back is funded from distributable profits. 2006 A. Fight Cash Flow Forecasting ii. 33 Other reserves prohibited from distribution by the company's memorandum articles include capital redemption reserves. capital requirement n. (a) the amount of capital required by a business or company in order to be able to operate; (b) the amount of capital that a bank or other financial institution must hold in order to maintain capital adequacy. ΚΠ 1859 Bristol Mercury 12 Feb. 2/4 The directors state this merely to guard against misconception as to the effect of a resolution now to be proposed, and not as entertaining any reserved intention or expectation of capital requirements beyond those mentioned in the said report. 1894 R. M. Breckenridge Canad. Banking Syst., 1817–90 vii. 200 We have to note one change in the capital requirement, no new bank now being permitted to issue notes or begin business with less than $500,000 capital bonâ fide subscribed, and $100,000 similarly paid-up. 1930 Economist 5 July 22/1 During the past month big Dutch enterprises have had to have recourse to foreign markets..for their capital requirements. 1997 L. K. Miller Sports Business Managem. i. 12 The capital requirements to enter the golf club industry are exorbitant. 2010 Evening Standard (Nexis) 2 Mar. Higher capital requirements by regulators will make it more likely that bits of the banking industry are lower-return but lower-risk than in the past. capital reserve n. Accounting an account or fund set aside for long-term capital investment projects or other large anticipated expenses, and which is not available for distribution as dividends; frequently attributive, esp. in capital reserve fund. ΚΠ 1846 R. Thomas Taunus Railway 25 The capital reserve fund pro 1844 amounts to..£5,583 6s. 8d. 1892 Electr. Engineer 22 Jan. 94/2 This last issue of shares placed £15,000 at the disposal of the Directors as a capital reserve fund. 1930 Daily Express 6 Oct. 14/2 The discount on this issue has been entirely written off from share premium and capital reserve accounts. 1990 R. Izhar Accounting, Costing, & Managem. i. x. 151 These [other reserves] may be either revenue reserves..or capital reserves such as capital redemption reserve. 2002 E. McLaney & P. Atrill Accounting (rev. ed.) iv. 108 The £0.50 per share premium will be shown as a capital reserve known as the share premium account. capital-to-labour ratio n. (also capital-to-labor ratio) Economics = capital–labour ratio at capital–labour adj. ΚΠ 1940 Free Europe 9 Feb. 123/2 Production has a high capital to labour ratio. 1985 P. A. Strassmann Information Payoff ix. 163 In the banking and insurance industry, the rapid rise in capital-to-labor ratio is almost certainly influenced by large increases in computer automation. 2011 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 17 Mar. The capital-to-labour ratio improved at an average rate of 3.5 per cent a year in Australia compared with 2 per cent here. capital-to-output ratio n. Economics = capital–output ratio n. ΚΠ 1936 Economist 19 Dec. 590/2 Neither the Association, nor any other public company in the trade, can offer a capital-to-output ratio comparable with that of the reorganised Lancashire Cotton Corporation. 1997 M. Storper Regional World v. 119 The firm's strategy is to maximize the efficiency of capital use, that is, to minimize the capital to output ratio. 2006 Financial Times 5 May 17/2 Investment has been directed towards services where the capital to output ratio is much lower than in building or manufacturing. capital tax n. a tax on capital assets such as wealth or property, rather than income; = capital levy n. ΚΠ 1804 Edinb. Rev. Jan. 485 The capitalists of this class would..have an undoubted right..to remove altogether from the operation of the capital tax. 1892 C. F. Bastable Public Finance iv. ii. 404 Bavaria has a capital tax besides its income tax. 1923 H. G. Moulton & C. E. McGuire Germany's Capacity to Pay v. 152 It [sc. the National Defence Contribution] was a capital tax and an income tax combined. 1999 National Trust Mag. Spring 7/3 An 18th-century Netherlandish flower painting at Dudmaston in Shropshire has been accepted by the Minister for the Arts in lieu of capital taxes. 2007 T. K. McCraw Prophet of Innovation vi. 100 The Finance Ministry would then assign an appropriate capital tax for each citizen. capital transfer tax n. a tax levied on transfer of capital by gift, bequest, etc. (in the United Kingdom replacing estate duty in 1975 and replaced by inheritance tax in 1986). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > fees and taxes > impost, due, or tax > tax > types of tax > [noun] > estate or inheritance taxes finec1436 legacy duty1786 probate duty1804 inheritance tax (or taxation)1841 death tax1850 death duty1852 succession duty1853 succession tax1859 testate duty1880 estate duty1889 capital transfer tax1928 1928 F. F. Blachly & M. E. Oatman Govt. & Admin. Germany vii. 188 The income, property and commercial taxes..nearly always include..income tax, property tax,..tax on the interest from capital,..capital transfer tax, and increase of land value tax. 1974 Hansard Commons 12 Nov. 276 The new capital transfer tax will replace the estate duty on deaths after the Bill has received Royal Assent. 1986 Daily Tel. 24 May 14/5 The president of the Historic Houses Association..plays down too much euphoria over the Chancellor's proposed substitution of inheritance tax for capital transfer tax. capital widening n. Economics an increase in the amount of capital put into a process, economy, etc., which matches the increase in the amount of labour, resulting in the capital–labour ratio remaining constant; cf. capital deepening n. ΚΠ 1937 R. G. Hawtrey Capital & Employm. iii. 35 (heading) Widening and Deepening of Capital.] 1939 Amer. Econ. Rev. 29 556 Hawtrey's..neglect of ‘real’ factors in cyclical fluctuations, his exclusion of the capital ‘widening’ process as relevant to interest rates..—all these are rightfully objected to. 1988 B. J. McCormick World Econ. viii. 167 Americans have tended to employ relatively larger ratios of labour to capital in production processes and to indulge in capital widening..rather than capital deepening. 2003 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 10 Feb. 12 Australia seems hell-bent..on capital widening, rather than deepening, as its investment dollars go into real estate to house an ever-growing population. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online June 2022). capitalv. Brit. /ˈkapᵻtl/, U.S. /ˈkæpədl/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: capital n.¹ Etymology: < capital n.¹ Architecture. transitive. To furnish or adorn with a capital (capital n.¹ 1). Also figurative. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > column > [verb (transitive)] > furnish with capital capital1776 1776 W. Hutchinson Excursion to Lakes & Northern Counties 220 Pointed arches, resting on well-proportioned round pillars, richly capitalled, forming a canopy. 1822 R. Richardson Trav. Mediterranean II. 299 Their base rests upon an elevation of the floor, and they are capitalled and surmounted with arches. 1851 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice I. ix. 115 They shod and capitaled the mouldings till they looked like a group of shafts. 1908 R. Farrer In Old Ceylon xiv. 244 A big, rectangular building like a church, whose pillars are capitalled with a strange heavy design of triform loops. 1973 V. Nabokov Russ. Beauty & Other Stories 28 Other sounds could be heard from the street: the noise of a car would curl up like a wispy column to be capitaled by a honk at the crossing. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.¹?c1335adj.n.²?c1225v.1776
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capitaln.1

Compounds

capitaladj.n.2

Phrases

Compounds

capitalv.

capitaln.¹

capitaladj.n.²