[f. CAPITAL sb.2 + -ISM.] The condition of possessing capital; the position of a capitalist; a system that favors the existence of capitalists.
1854. Thackeray, Newcomes, II. 75. The sense of capitalism sobered and dignified Paul de Florac.
1877. A. Douai, Better Times (1884), 10. This institution of private capitalism is of a comparatively recent origin.
1884. Pall Mall Gaz., 11 Sept., 6/1. A loophole for capitalism to creep in upon the primitive Christian communism.
