Meanings
nouncapital city (plural capital cities)
plural capital cities
- A city that is a seat of government.
- A city (or cities) much larger or more important to a country than all others, regardless of the actual seat of government (cf., Moscow and Saint Petersburg regardless of moves of the Russian government; Amsterdam despite the Dutch government having been situated in The Hague since 1588).
- AustraliaThe major metropolitan areas of Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide), all of which happen to be state capitals, and by extension the major metropolitan areas of other countries; note that other state capitals Hobart, Darwin, and national capital Canberra are often excluded.
Synonyms: capital
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe major metropolitan areas of Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide), all of which happen to be state capitals, and by extension the major metropolitan areas of other countries; note that other state capitals Hobart, Darwin, and national capital Canberra are often excluded.
Similar
Translations
Afrikaans hoofstad
- hoofstadcity designated as seat of government
Ancient Greek μητρόπολις
- μητρόπολις (mētrópolis)city designated as seat of government
Arabic عَاصِمَة, حَاضِرَة
- عَاصِمَة (ʕāṣima)city designated as seat of government
- حَاضِرَة (ḥāḍira)city designated as seat of government
Basque hiriburu
- hiriburucity designated as seat of government
Bengali রাজধানী
- রাজধানী (rajdhani)city designated as seat of government
Bulgarian сто́лица
- сто́лица (stólica)city designated as seat of government
Catalan capital
- capitalcity designated as seat of government
Chinese Cantonese 首都, 省會 /省会
- 首都 (sau² dou¹)city designated as seat of government
- 省會 /省会 (saang² wui⁶)city designated as seat of government
- 京城city designated as seat of government
- 龍城 /龙城city designated as seat of government
Chinese Mandarin 首都, 省會 /省会
- 首都 (shǒudū)city designated as seat of government
- 省會 /省会 (shěnghuì)city designated as seat of government
- 京城 (jīngchéng)city designated as seat of government
- 龍城 /龙城 (lóngchéng)city designated as seat of government
- 首府 (shǒufǔ)city designated as seat of government
Czech hlavní město
- hlavní městocity designated as seat of government
Danish hovedstad
- hovedstadcity designated as seat of government
Dutch hoofdstad
- hoofdstadcity designated as seat of government
Esperanto ĉefurbo
- ĉefurbocity designated as seat of government
Estonian pealinn
- pealinncity designated as seat of government
Finnish pääkaupunki
- pääkaupunkicity designated as seat of government
French capitale, chef-lieu (of a region or département)
- capitalecity designated as seat of government
- chef-lieu (of a region or département)city designated as seat of government
German Hauptstadt
- Hauptstadtcity designated as seat of government
Greek πρωτεύουσα
- πρωτεύουσα (protévousa)city designated as seat of government
Hawaiian kapikala
- kapikalacity designated as seat of government
Hebrew בִּירָה
- בִּירָה (birá)city designated as seat of government
Hindi राजधानी
- राजधानी (rājdhānī)city designated as seat of government
Hungarian főváros
- fővároscity designated as seat of government
Icelandic höfuðborg
- höfuðborgcity designated as seat of government
Indonesian ibu kota
- ibu kotacity designated as seat of government
Irish príomhchathair, ceannphort
- príomhchathaircity designated as seat of government
- ceannphortcity designated as seat of government
- ardchathaircity designated as seat of government
Italian capitale, capoluogo
- capitalecity designated as seat of government
- capoluogocity designated as seat of government
Japanese 首都, 都
- 首都 (shuto)city designated as seat of government
- 都 (miyako)city designated as seat of government
Korean 수도, 서울
- 수도 (sudo)city designated as seat of government
- 서울 (seoul)city designated as seat of government
Latin archisolium
- archisoliumcity designated as seat of government
Latvian galvaspilsēta
- galvaspilsētacity designated as seat of government
Lithuanian sostinė
- sostinėcity designated as seat of government
Malay ibu negara, ibu negeri
- ibu negaracity designated as seat of government
- ibu negericity designated as seat of government
- ibu kotacity designated as seat of government
Māori tino tāone, tāone matua
- tino tāonecity designated as seat of government
- tāone matuacity designated as seat of government
Norwegian Bokmål hovedstad
- hovedstadcity designated as seat of government
Polish stolica
- stolicacity designated as seat of government
Portuguese capital
- capitalcity designated as seat of government
Punjabi ਰਾਜਧਾਨੀ
- ਰਾਜਧਾਨੀ (rājdhānī)city designated as seat of government
Romanian capitală
- capitalăcity designated as seat of government
Russian столи́ца, сто́льный град
- столи́ца (stolíca)city designated as seat of government
- сто́льный град (stólʹnyj grad)city designated as seat of government
Scottish Gaelic prìomh-bhaile
- prìomh-bhailecity designated as seat of government
Slovak hlavné mesto
- hlavné mestocity designated as seat of government
Spanish capital
- capitalcity designated as seat of government
Swahili mji mkuu
- mji mkuucity designated as seat of government
Swedish huvudstad
- huvudstadcity designated as seat of government
Tagalog kapital, ulunlunsod
- kapitalcity designated as seat of government
- ulunlunsodcity designated as seat of government
- pununglunsodcity designated as seat of government
- kabiseracity designated as seat of government
Tamil தலைநகர்
- தலைநகர் (talainakar)city designated as seat of government
Thai เมืองหลวง, นครหลวง
- เมืองหลวง (mʉʉang-lǔuang)city designated as seat of government
- นครหลวง (ná-kɔɔn-lǔuang)city designated as seat of government
- กรุง (grung)city designated as seat of government
Turkish başkent, başşehir
- başkentcity designated as seat of government
- başşehircity designated as seat of government
- payitahtcity designated as seat of government
- asitanecity designated as seat of government
Ukrainian столи́ця, сто́льний град
- столи́ця (stolýcja)city designated as seat of government
- сто́льний град (stólʹnyj hrad)city designated as seat of government
Urdu دارُالْحُکُومَت, دارُ الْحُکُومَت
- دارُالْحُکُومَت (dār-ul-hukūmat)city designated as seat of government
- دارُ الْحُکُومَت (dāru l-hukūmat)city designated as seat of government
- پائے تَخْت (pāe taxt)city designated as seat of government
- دارُ الْخِلافَہ (dāru l-xilāfa)city designated as seat of government
- دارُ السَّلْطَنَت (dāru s-saltanat)city designated as seat of government
Vietnamese thủ đô, thủ phủ
- thủ đôcity designated as seat of government
- thủ phủcity designated as seat of government
Welsh prifddinas
- prifddinascity designated as seat of government
Yiddish הויפּטשטאָט
- הויפּטשטאָט (hoyptshtot)city designated as seat of government
Cite this entry
APA
capital city. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capital%20city
MLA
“capital city.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capital%20city. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “capital city,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/capital%20city.
Source: capital city on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.