Etymology

capitalist

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Today it means: Of, or pertaining to, capitalism. Full definition →

French capitaliste ← English capital ← Middle English capital
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  4. Proto-Italic*kaput
  5. Latincaput
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  8. Latincapitālis
  9. Old Frenchcapita
  10. Middle Englishcapital
  11. Englishcapital
  12. Frenchcapitaliste
  13. English todaycapitalist

From capital + -ist. Calque of French capitaliste.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.