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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
capital1 noun 1 the chief city of a country, usually where the government is based. 2 a capital letter (see adj 2 below). 3 the total amount of money or wealth possessed by a person or business, etc, especially when used to produce more wealth. adj 1 principal; chief. 2 said of a letter of the alphabet: in its large form, as used eg at the beginnings of names and sentences. Also called upper-case. 3 said of a crime: punishable by death. 4 Brit old use, colloq excellent. make capital out of something to use a situation or circumstance to one's advantage. with a capital A, etc in a very real or genuine sense • poverty with a capital P.
ETYMOLOGY: 13c meaning 'relating to the head': French, from Latin capitalis, from caput head.
capital letter A capital letter should be used for: the first letter of the first word in a sentence. the first letter of proper nouns, such as names of people and places, and words derived from them • Anne • Bernard Smith • the Australian cricket team • the Irish Republic • Shakespearian tragedy. the first letter of all important words in titles, eg of people, plays, films and organizations • the Prince of Wales • Admiral of the Fleet • Lord Brown • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof • Raiders of the Lost Ark • the Department of Social Services. Note that when an unimportant word is the first word in the title of a book, play or film, it must have a capital • The Mill on the Floss • A Man for All Seasons • In the Heat of the Night. the first letter of brand names • a Milky Way • a red Jaguar • a new Hoover. |
capital2 noun, archit the slab of stone, etc, usually ornamentally carved, that forms the top section of a column or pillar.
ETYMOLOGY: 13c: from Latin capitellum, diminutive of caput head.
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Consult Chambers 21st Century Dictionary, The Chambers Thesaurus (1996) or Chambers Biographical Dictionary (1997 edition with amendments). Enter your search and choose your title from the drop-down menu.
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