capital

The city where a country or region has its main government offices.

• Ankara is the capital of Turkey.
• We visited the capital last summer.
• Several state capitals are smaller than nearby cities.

How to use it: the capital of somewhere (Madrid is the capital of Spain.)

Common phrases: capital of something, national capital, state capital

Money and valuable property that a person or business owns, especially for starting or running a business.

• We need capital to start the business.
• She invested all her capital in the company.
• The bank helped them raise more capital.

Similar words: funds, assets, wealth

Common phrases: raise capital, invest capital, working capital, capital investment

A city especially important for a particular activity or industry.

• Milan is a fashion capital.
• The city became a world capital of jazz.
• They hope to make this town the cycling capital of Europe.

How to use it: the capital of something (The city is a major capital of film production.)

Similar words: center, hub

Common phrases: fashion capital, film capital, capital of something

Knowledge, experience, or skills that help a person succeed in society or work.

• Education builds human capital.
• Her cultural capital helped her understand the unfamiliar customs.
• The company invested in training to increase its intellectual capital.

Similar words: expertise, know-how

Common phrases: cultural capital, human capital, intellectual capital

The wider top part of a column that supports the structure above it.

• The column has a carved capital.
• Each capital supports a stone beam.
• The temple has capitals decorated with leaves.

Common phrases: column capital, carved capital, stone capital, decorated capital

Describing a letter in its larger form, such as A rather than a.

• Start your name with a capital letter.
• Write the title in capital letters.
• Does this word need a capital B?

Similar words: uppercase

Opposites: lowercase

Common phrases: capital letter, capital a, capital letters

Describing the city where a country or region has its main government.

• Paris is a capital city.
• The capital region contains many government offices.
• Officials gathered in the capital district.

Common phrases: capital city, capital district, capital region

Involving death as the legal punishment for a crime.

• The country abolished capital punishment.
• Murder was treated as a capital crime.
• The lawyer has handled several capital cases.

Common phrases: capital punishment, capital crime, capital offense, capital case