Meaning of capital In English

• 0 a city that is the centre of government of a country or smaller political area:

  • Australia's capital city is Canberra.

  • London used to be the financial capital of the world.

• 1 a letter of the alphabet in the form and larger size that is used at the beginning of sentences and names:

  • Please print your name in capitals.

  • A proper noun should start with a capital.

• 2 money and possessions, especially a large amount of money used for producing more wealth or for starting a new business:

  • She leaves her capital untouched in the bank and lives off the interest.

  • We put $20,000 capital into the business, but we're unlikely to see any return for a few years.

• 3 the top part of a column

• 4 (of a letter of the alphabet) in the form and larger size that is used at the beginning of sentences and names:

  • Do you write "calvinist" with a capital "C" or not?

• 5 a crime that can be punished by death:

  • In some countries, importing drugs is a capital offence.

• 6 very good or excellent:

  • That's a capital idea!

• 7 a form of a letter used to begin sentences and names of people, places, and organizations:

  • THIS SENTENCE IS PRINTED IN CAPITALS/CAPITAL LETTERS.

• 8 a city which is the center of government for a country or other political area

• 9 wealth, esp. money used to produce more wealth through investment or a new business:

  • She invested well, and can live on the interest without touching the capital.

• 10 (of a crime) that can be punished by death:

  • a capital offense

• 11 money that is used for investment or for starting a business:

  • attract/borrow/raise capital Low-tax policies are used by some countries to attract capital.

  • invest/inject capital The UK parent company decided not to inject further capital into the failing business.

  • foreign/private capital

  • Investors are finding that there has been a satisfactory return on capital.

• 12 the total amount of money and property that an individual or company owns:

  • tie up/release capital Most of our capital is tied up in property.

• 13 money that is lent or borrowed and will have to be paid back:

  • Our mortgage is interest-only, so we're not paying off any of the capital.

• 14 people who own the businesses, land, industries, and other forms of wealth in society, considered as a group:

  • There's a real conflict arising between the demands of capital and labour.

• 15 the city where a country or state has its central government:

  • What's the capital of China?