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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Capital \Cap"i*tal\, a. [F. capital, L. capitalis capital (in
senses 1 & 2), fr. caput head. See {Chief}, and cf.
{Capital}, n.]
1. Of or pertaining to the head. [Obs.]
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Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise
Expect with mortal pain. --Milton.
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2. Having reference to, or involving, the forfeiture of the
head or life; affecting life; punishable with death; as,
capital trials; capital punishment.
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Many crimes that are capital among us. --Swift.
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To put to death a capital offender. --Milton.
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3. First in importance; chief; principal.
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A capital article in religion --Atterbury.
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Whatever is capital and essential in Christianity.
--I. Taylor.
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4. Chief, in a political sense, as being the seat of the
general government of a state or nation; as, Washington
and Paris are capital cities.
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5. Of first rate quality; excellent; as, a capital speech or
song. [Colloq.]
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{Capital letter} [F, lettre capitale] (Print.), a leading or
heading letter, used at the beginning of a sentence and as
the first letter of certain words, distinguished, for the
most part, both by different form and larger size, from
the small (lower-case) letters, which form the greater
part of common print or writing.

{Small capital letters} have the form of capital letters and
height of the body of the lower-case letters.

{Capital stock}, money, property, or stock invested in any
business, or the enterprise of any corporation or
institution. --Abbott.

Syn: Chief; leading; controlling; prominent.
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capital \cap"i*tal\ (k[a^]p"[i^]*tal), n. [Cf. L. capitellum and
capitulum, a small head, the head, top, or capital of a
column, dim. of caput head; F. chapiteau, OF. capitel. See
{chief}, and cf. {cattle}, {chattel}, {chapiter}, {chapter}.]
1. (Arch.) The head or uppermost member of a column,
pilaster, etc. It consists generally of three parts,
abacus, bell (or vase), and necking. See these terms, and
{Column}.
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2. [Cf. F. capilate, fem., sc. ville.] (Geog.) The seat of
government; the chief city or town in a country; a
metropolis. "A busy and splendid capital" --Macauly.
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3. [Cf. F. capital.] Money, property, or stock employed in
trade, manufactures, etc.; the sum invested or lent, as
distinguished from the income or interest. See {Capital
stock}, under {Capital}, a.
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4. (Polit. Econ.) That portion of the produce of industry,
which may be directly employed either to support human
beings or to assist in production. --M'Culloch.
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Note: When wealth is used to assist production it is called
capital. The capital of a civilized community includes
{fixed capital} (i.e. buildings, machines, and roads
used in the course of production and exchange) and
{circulating capital} (i.e., food, fuel, money, etc.,
spent in the course of production and exchange). --T.
Raleigh.
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5. Anything which can be used to increase one's power or
influence.
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He tried to make capital out of his rival's
discomfiture. --London
Times.
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6. (Fort.) An imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or
other work, into two equal parts.
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7. A chapter, or section, of a book. [Obs.]
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Holy St. Bernard hath said in the 59th capital.
--Sir W.
Scott.
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8. (Print.) See {Capital letter}, under {Capital}, a.
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{Active capital}. See under {Active},

{Small capital} (Print.), a small capital letter; informally
referred to (in the plural) as {small caps}; as, the
technical terms are listed in {small caps}. See under
{Capital}, a.

{To live on one's capital}, to consume one's capital without
producing or accumulating anything to replace it.
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