capital

capital · noun, adjective, interjection¹

1. Latin · derived fromcapitālis“of the head”
2. Old French · derived fromcapital
3. Middle English · inherited fromcapital
4. English todaycapital

From Middle English capital, borrowed partly from Old French capital and partly from Latin capitālis (“of the head”) (in sense “head of cattle”), from caput (“head”) (English cap) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives). Use in trade and finance originated in Medieval economies when a common but expensive transaction involved trading heads of cattle. The noun is from the adjective. In the fourth sense, displaced native Old English hēafodburg, equivalent to head + borough (“city”). Compare chattel and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”. Doublet of cattle and chattel.

capital · noun²

1. Latin · derived fromcapitulum“head-like object or structure; chapter”
2. Late Latin · derived fromcapitellum“capital or chapiter of a column”
3. Old French · derived fromcapital
4. Middle English · inherited fromcapitale
5. English todaycapital

From Middle English capitale, partly from Old French capital and partly from Late Latin capitellum (“capital or chapiter of a column”), a form of Latin capitulum (“head-like object or structure; chapter”) (whence English capitulum, chapter, and the synonym chapiter (“uppermost part of a column”)), from caput (“head”) + -ulum (diminutive suffix). Doublet of caddie, cadel, cadet, capitellum, and caudillo.

Capital · proper noun³

1. Arabic · borrowed fromٱلْعَاصِمَةُ
2. English todayCapital

Borrowed from Arabic ٱلْعَاصِمَةُ (l-ʕāṣimatu).

Words from the same roots