The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
(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.
[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.[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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(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.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. -
Anything which can be used to increase one's power or influence.
He tried to make capital out of his rival's discomfiture.
--London Times. (Fort.) An imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or other work, into two equal parts.
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A chapter, or section, of a book. [Obs.]
Holy St. Bernard hath said in the 59th capital.
--Sir W. Scott. -
(Print.) See Capital letter, under Capital, a.
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.
WordNet
n. a character having the form of an upper-case letter but the same height as lower-case letters [syn: small cap]
Usage examples of "small capital".
Before this concentration began, while as yet commerce and industry were conducted by innumerable petty concerns with small capital, instead of a small number of great concerns with vast capital, the individual workman was relatively important and independent in his relations to the employer.
Rising rapidly from the surface of Bothawui were over a hundred ships, everything from Z-95 Headhunters to Skipray Blastboats to even a few small capital warships.
And besides that, the money Gregor brought home every month -- he had kept only a few dollars for himself -- had never been quite used up and now amounted to a small capital sum.
But he soon came to the conclusion that the small capital he could scrape up and the knowledge he could bring to a highly technical business would be insufficient to make much of a mark for a long, long time.
Now, it was not really difficult, by an inspection of the groove between your left forefinger and thumb, to feel sure that you did not propose to invest your small capital in the gold fields.