1. [n]  the upper part of a column that supports the entablature
2. [n]  a book written by Karl Marx (1867) describing his economic theories
3. [n]  one of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in proper names and sometimes for emphasis; (printers once kept type for capitals and small letters in separate cases; capitals were kept in the upper half of the type case and so became known as upper-case letters)
4. [n]  a seat of government
5. [n]  wealth in the form of money or property owned by a person or business and human resources of economic value
6. [n]  assets available for use in the production of further assets
7. [adj]  uppercase; "capital A"; "great A"; "many medieval manuscripts are in majuscule script"
8. [adj]  of primary important; "our capital concern was to avoid defeat"
9. [adj]  punishable by death; "a capital offense"
10. [adj]  (British) first-rate; "a capital fellow"; "a capital idea"

Capital
Marx`s masterpiece DAS KAPITAL is not so much a manual on economics but a moral and theoretical view of social issues and activities as they are determined by economic systems. It is an analysis of capitalism that was the precursor of all subsequent forms of socialism. Isaiah Berlin refers to DAS KAPITAL as having acquired a symbolic significance beyond anything written since the age of faith. It has been blindly worshipped, and blindly hated, by millions who have not read a line of it, or have read without understanding its, at times, obscure and tortuous prose. (from KARL MARX: His Life and Environment, 1978)

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1. \Cap"i*tal\, a. [F. capital, L. capitalis capital (in
   senses 1 & 2), fr. caput head. See {Chief}, and cf.
   {Capital}, n.]
   1. Of or pertaining to the head. [Obs.]
            Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise Expect
            with mortal pain.                     --Milton.
   2. Having reference to, or involving, the forfeiture of the
      head or life; affecting life; punishable with death; as,
      capital trials; capital punishment.
            Many crimes that are capital among us. --Swift.
            To put to death a capital offender.   --Milton.
   3. First in importance; chief; principal.
            A capital article in religion         --Atterbury.
            Whatever is capital and essential in Christianity.
                                                  --I. Taylor.
   4. Chief, in a political sense, as being the seat of the
      general government of a state or nation; as, Washington
      and Paris are capital cities.
   5. Of first rate quality; excellent; as, a capital speech or
      song. [Colloq.]
   {Capital letter} [F, lettre capitale] (Print.), a leading or
      heading letter, used at the beginning of a sentence and as
      the first letter of certain words, distinguished, for the
      most part, both by different form and larger size, from
      the small (lower-case) letters, which form the greater
      part of common print or writing.
   {Small capital letters} have the form of capital letters and
      height of the body of the lower-case letters.
   {Capital stock}, money, property, or stock invested in any
      business, or the enterprise of any corporation or
      institution. --Abbott.
   Syn: Chief; leading; controlling; prominent.
   

2. \Cap"i*tal\, n. [Cf. L. capitellum and Capitulum, a
   small head, the head, top, or capital of a column, dim. of
   caput head; F. chapiteau, OF. capitel. See {Chief}, and cf.
   {Cattle}, {Chattel}, {Chapiter}, {Chapter}.]
   1. (Arch.) The head or uppermost member of a column,
      pilaster, etc. It consists generally of three parts,
      abacus, bell (or vase), and necking. See these terms, and
      {Column}.
   2. [Cf. F. capilate, fem., sc. ville.] (Geog.) The seat of
      government; the chief city or town in a country; a
      metropolis. ``A busy and splendid capital'' --Macauly.
   3. [Cf. F. capital.] Money, property, or stock employed in
      trade, manufactures, etc.; the sum invested or lent, as
      distinguished from the income or interest. See {Capital
      stock}, under {Capital}, a.
   4. (Polit. Econ.) That portion of the produce of industry,
      which may be directly employed either to support human
      beings or to assist in production. --M'Culloch.
   Note: When wealth is used to assist production it is called
         capital. The capital of a civilized community includes
         fixed capital (i.e. buildings, machines, and roads used
         in the course of production and exchange) amd
         circulating capital (i.e., food, fuel, money, etc.,
         spent in the course of production and exchange). --T.
         Raleigh.
   5. Anything which can be used to increase one's power or
      influence.
            He tried to make capital out of his rival's
            discomfiture.                         --London
                                                  Times.
   6. (Fort.) An imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or
      other work, into two equal parts.
   7. A chapter, or section, of a book. [Obs.]
            Holy St. Bernard hath said in the 59th capital.
                                                  --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
   8. (Print.) See {Capital letter}, under {Capital}, a.
   {Active capital}. See under {Active},
   {Small capital} (Print.), a small capital letter. See under
      {Capital}, a.
   {To live on one's capital}, to consume one's capital without
      producing or accumulating anything to replace it.