Forms: 3–4 capitale, 5–7 capitall(e, 5–6 capytal(l, 7 capitoll, 4– capital. [a. F. capital (12th c.), ad. L. capitāl-is, in legal and ecclesiastical use. The actual F. descendant of the L. word is cheptel (pronounced chetel).]
A. adj. I. Relating to the head.
† 1. Of or pertaining to the head or top. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 258. Wiðuten eddren capitalen þet bledden on his hefde.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, Her., F j. Sparris … put … by the maner of an hede, and ij syche sparris ionyt togedyr make a capitall sygne.
1624. Chapman, Homer’s Batrachom., 9. Their parts Capitall They hid.
1667. Milton, P. L., XII. 383. His [the Serpent’s] capital bruise.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xiii. 34. A Pillar Composed in the Capital part.
2. Affecting, or involving loss of the head or life.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 184/3. To haue capytal sentence & be beheded.
1581. Lambarde, Eiren., I. xii. (1588), 67. Capitall (or deadly) punishment is done sundry wayes.
1770. Langhorne, Plutarch (1879), I. 181/2. Cimon … narrowly escaped a capital sentence.
1868. Spectator, 19 Dec., 1487. We never remember a capital verdict upon such insufficient evidence.
b. Punishable by death.
1526. Frith, Purgat., 201. Whosoever hath committed a capital crime.
1688. Stradling, Serm. (1692), 168. The Egyptians made it Capital to affirm that their God Apis was dead.
a. 1745. Swift, Wks. (1841), II. 154. Guilty of a capital crime.
1827. Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), III. xvii. 330. It was capital to preach even in houses.
† c. Of persons: Dealing with capital crimes; also, capitally condemned. Obs.
1583. Stubbes, Anat. Abus., II. 106. They, as Capytall Iudges, geue definytiue sentence of lyfe and death.
1631. Gouge, God’s Arrows, III. § 60. 295. Putting capitall malefactors to death.
1644. Prynne, Check to Britan., 4. An impenitent, obdurate, Capitall Delinquent.
† d. Fatal. Obs.
1624. Bacon, War w. Spain, Wks. 1733, II. 169 (J.). War, which is capital to thousands.
1701. Collier, M. Antoninus, 11. In the Reign of Adrian an excellency of almost any kind was sometimes Capital to the Owner.
e. Roman Law. Involving loss of civil rights.
1838. Arnold, Hist. Rome (1846), 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.
† 3. Said of an enemy or enmity: Deadly, mortal. Obs.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, III. 2. The lord off lorne … That wes capitale ennymy To the king.
1502. Arnolde, Chron. (1811), 283. A capital enmyte lyke to haue endured for euer.
1670. Cotton, Espernon, I. III. 109. The Bishop was his capital Enemy.
1762. Hume, Hist. Eng. (1806), IV. liv. 162. The capital enemy of their country.
4. fig. Of defects, errors, and the like: Fatal, vitally injurious, most serious, radical. (Passing into sense 6 d.)
1538. Starkey, England, 128. You have notyd such [faults] as be most capytal.
1581. Mulcaster, Positions, xxxiii. (1887), 121. Immoderate exercise … a very capitall enemie to health.
1612. T. Taylor, Comm. Titus ii. 10. 429. It is more capitall to smite the master then a stranger.
1734. trans. Rollin’s Anc. Hist. (1827), II. II. 34. Hannibal’s stay at Capua was a capital blemish in his conduct.
1855. Prescott, Philip II., II. v. (1857), 249. In the outset, he seems to have fallen into a capital error.
II. Standing at the head. lit. and fig.
5. Of words and letters: † Standing at the head of a page, or at the beginning of a line or paragraph, initial (obs.). Capital letters: letters of the form and relative size used in this position.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., 8. This same bordure is devyded … with 23 lettres capitals.
1432–50. trans. Higden (Rolls Ser.), IV. 299. The capitalle letters … expresse this sentence.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, xxii. 84. The grete capitalle lettres of the bygynnynge … of the psalmes and chapytres … ben alle mayde fayre.
1584. Powel, Lloyd’s Cambria, 9. It is easy for the C. Capitall to creepe in.
1662. Pepys, Diary, 11 June. To have the capitall words wrote with red ink.
1676. Moxon, Print. Lett., 10. Use a Capital Letter … in all Proper Names.
1811. J. Bannatine, in Monthly Mag., XXXIV. 429/1. One very modern improvement in writing and printing, namely, dropping the capital letters, except in the beginning of sentences, [etc.].
6. Chief; head-: a. of persons. arch. or Obs.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VI. xix. 37. Of þis Lawch are thre capytale.
1461–82. Liber Niger Edw. IV., in Househ. Ord., 73. This sergeaunt, capitall Buttler.
1530. Test. Ebor. (Surtees), V. 293. Capital Sanctes under God of the aforsaid kirkes.
1614. T. Adams, Devil’s Banquet, 213. Diseases, which be Deaths capitall Chirurgions.
1683. Lond. Gaz., No. 1866/4. The Mayor, Aldermen, Bayliff, Capital Burgesses, and Commonalty of … Waymouth.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Capital lord … the lord of the fee.
1810. in Risdon’s Surv. Devon, 426. A Mayor, assisted by 18 capital burgesses.
b. of mansions, estates, towns and cities. Capital manor: one held in capite, or directly from the King. Capital messuage: that occupied by the owner of a property containing several messuages. Capital town or city = CAPITAL sb. (See B. 2 below).
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.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 125. From thence … to the capitoll towne of the Arachosians, 515 miles.
1642. Perkins, Prof. Bk., v. § 406. 175. The heire is not compellable to assigne unto his mother … the capitall messuage which was his Fathers.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 924. Battering Engines bent to rase Som Capital City. Ibid., XI. 343. This had been Perhaps thy Capital Seate, from whence had spred All generations.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., II. 214. The eldest son had the capital fee or principal feud of his father’s possessions.
1774. T. Warton, Hist. Eng. Poetry (1840), I. 18. Chained in the cloister, or church, of some capital monastery.
1809. Bawdwen, Domesday Bk., 589. The Abbot of Westminster claims all this because the capital manor is given to St. Peter.
† c. of ships: ‘Of the line’; first-rate. Obs.
1688. Lond. Gaz., No. 2397/4. The Capital Ships are off of Torbay about 4 Leagues from the Shore.
1766. Smollett, Hist. Eng. (1804), V. 248. Of these capital ships (those of the line), 17 were stationed in the East Indies.
d. of other things.
a. 1535. More, De quat. Noviss., Wks. 85/2. Ii. capitall vyces, that is to wit enuye and couityce.
1597. J. Payne, Royal Exch., 44. Love ys the capitall affection in men and wemen.
1671. Milton, Samson, 394. To win from me My capital secret.
1749. Chesterf., Lett., II. clxxxv. 189. The Last Supper, by Paul Veronese … is reckoned his capital performance.
1871. R. W. Dale, Commandm., Introd. 7. The old traditions … made Obedience the capital virtue of childhood.
e. less strictly. Main, leading, weighty, important, first-class.
1724. A. Collins, Gr. Chr. Relig., 20. Several capital places in the sacred Writers.
1767. Gooch, Treat. Wounds, I. 182. These preparatory rules, generally necessary before any capital operation.
1788. Priestley, Lect. Hist., I. i. 5. All history has a capital advantage over every work of fiction.
1793. W. Roberts, Looker-on, No. 47. He … espoused the daughter of a capital grocer.
1818. Hazlitt, Eng. Poets, VI. (1870), 146. So capital and undeniable a proof of the author’s talents.
7. In mod. use: Excellent, ‘first-rate.’ Often as an exclamation of approval.
1762. Ld. Radnor, in Priv. Lett. 1st Ld. Malmesbury, I. 85. The Hobbema is also a very capital picture.
1791. ‘G. Gambado,’ Ann. Horsem., vi. (1809), 91. He clears every thing with his fore legs in a capital style.
1835. T. Hook, G. Gurney, I. ii. Nobody said capital, or even good, or even tolerable.
1870. E. Peacock, Ralf Skirl., III. 26. He was a capital companion.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 100. Capital, Socrates; by the gods, that is truly good.
8. Of or pertaining to the original funds of a trader, company or corporation; principal; hence, serving as a basis for financial and other operations.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4534/1. An Act for Enlarging the Capital Stock of the Bank of England.
1776. Adam Smith, W. N., I. I. ix. 98. The capital stock of Great Britain was not diminished even by the enormous expense of the late war.
1825. Southey, in Q. Rev., XXXII. 41. Compelled … to encroach largely upon its capital fund.
1884. Ld. Selborne, in Law Rep., 25 Chanc. Div. 689. She may commute into a capital sum … the benefit given to her … by way of annuity.
III. † 9. Capital lye: the first or strongest alkaline solution employed in the process of soap-making. Obs. [Cf. F. capitel in same sense, med.L. capitellum ‘aqua saponis vel lixivium,’ It. capitello ‘lie to wash and skoure with’ (Florio). So that strictly this is a distinct word.]
1704. Worlidge, Dict. Rust. et Urb., s.v. Soap, The Magistral or Capital Lye … is so strong, that an Egg will swim therein.
1731. Bailey, Capital Lees, are the strong Lees, made by Soap-boilers from Pot-ashes.
B. sb. [Several elliptical uses of the adjective.]
1. A capital letter. Hence To speak in capitals: i.e., with emphasis. (Cf. A. 5.)
1649. G. Daniel, Trinarch., Rich. II., cxvii. Noe Character so small, But through that Glass appeares a Capitall.
1676. Moxon, Print. Lett., 5. A, B, C, &c. are Capitals.
1733. Swift, On Poetry, 99. When in Capitals exprest, The dullest reader smokes the jest.
1871. L. W. Lockhart, Fair to See, I. 4 (Hoppe). ‘AND I AM!’ cried Fuskisson, a little white ensign, speaking in large capitals, with a voice like a Jew’s harp.
1873. Burton, Hist. Scot., VI. lxviii. 147. The Service-book was amply decorated with pictorial capitals.
2. A capital town or city; the head town of a country, province or state.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 756. Pandæmonium, the high Capital Of Satan and his Peers.
1750. Johnson, Rambl., 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.
1853. Robertson, Serm., Ser. III. ix. 115. § 2. A constant round from the capital to the watering place, and from the watering place to the capital.
3. A capital stock or fund. a. Commerce. The stock of a company, corporation or individual with which they enter into business and on which profits or dividends are calculated; in a joint-stock company, it consists of the total sum of the contributions of the shareholders. b. Pol. Econ. The accumulated wealth of an individual, company, or community, used as a fund for carrying on fresh production; wealth in any form used to help in producing more wealth.
[1611. Cotgr., Capital, wealth, worth; a stocke, a man’s principall, or chiefe, substance.]
1630–9. Wotton, Lett. & Treat., 459 (K. O.).
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., VII. (1847), 441/1. Such anticipations upon all kinds of receipts for monies borrowed and already spent, that they had no capital for future security.
1727–51. Chambers, Cycl., s.v., Power given by Parliament to the South-Sea Company to increase their capital.
1790. Burke, Fr. Rev., 51. You began ill…. You set up your trade without a capital.
1793. Bentham, Emancip. Col., Wks. 1843, IV. 411. In proportion to the quantity of capital a country has at its disposal, will … be the quantity of its trade.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 44? The gentlemen of fortune turn their capitals into this channel.
1825. McCulloch, Pol. Econ. II. ii. 73. The accumulation … of the produce of previous labour, or, as it is more commonly termed, of capital or stock. Ibid., 114. Credit … enables those who have capitals … to lend them to those who are desirous to obtain them.
1863. Fenn, Eng. & For. Funds, 26. Bank Stock … is the capital of the Corporation of the Bank of England.
1874. Helps, Soc. Press., iii. 54. The immense difficulty that it is for any human being without capital to ensure himself a living.
1889. S. Moore & E. Aveling, trans. & Frederick Engels, ed. K. Marx’s Captial, 123. II. iv. The circulation of commodities is the starting point of capital.
c. Fixed capital: that which remains in the owner’s possession, as working cattle, tools, machinery, etc. Circulating, floating capital: that which is constantly changing hands or passing from one form into another, as goods, money, etc.
1776. Adam Smith, W. N. (1869), I. II. i. 276. His capital is continually going from him in one shape, and returning to him in another…. Such capitals … may … be called circulating capitals.
1825. McCulloch, Pol. Econ. II. ii. 95. What could he do without the assistance of fixed capital or tools?
d. fig.; also phrase, To make capital out of: to turn to account.
1847. Helps, Friends in C. (1851), I. 28. To reject the accumulated mental capital of ages.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xxv. (1869), IV. 314. He tried to make … political capital out of the desolation of his house.
1865. Mrs. Riddell, G. Geith, II. ii. 26. The quietest, most conciliating manners that ever a man made capital out of.
1885. Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll, i. 8. If you choose to make capital out of this accident.
1892. Standard, 20 Oct., 5/3. He [the dog] is, therefore, the favourite and companion of the sex which insists on having interest on any emotional capital it expends.
4. Fortif. (See quot.)
1706. Phillips, 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.
1853. Stocqueler, Mil. Encycl., Capital … is an imaginary line bisecting the salient angle of a work.
† 5. (See quot.) Obs.
1799. G. Smith, Laborat., I. 188. One part of capital, or cream of clay.
