Word Confusion: Capital versus Capitol

Posted December 5, 2013 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
2 Nov 2022

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This word confusion capital vs capitol used to confuse me as well until I realized the O reminded me of a big mouth, and when you consider that the first entry under the definition for Capitol refers to Washington, D.C., well, ’nuff said . . .

Capital ranges from money to a happy exclamation to an uppercase letter, as well as the most important city or town of a country or region.

Capitol refers to a building housing a legislative assembly.

It does make it easier to distinguish between capital and capitol when you realize the latter is only a building where a bunch of blowhards get together.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Capital	Capitol
Capital Letter C by James Tissot is under no restrictions and in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and the Brooklyn Museum.	United States Capitol – West Front is courtesy of the Architect of the Capitol (aoc.gov) and in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Part of Grammar:
Adjective ¹; Exclamation ¹; Noun ¹, ² Plural for the noun: capitals	Noun Plural: capitols
Adjective: [Of an offense or charge] Liable to the death penalty ¹ Of or relating to wealth Of greatest political importance [Of a letter of the alphabet] Large in size and of the form used to begin sentences and names [Informal; dated] Excellent Exclamation: [British; informal; dated] Used to express approval, satisfaction, or delight ¹ Noun: [Also capital city or town] The most important city or town of a country or region, usually its seat of government and administrative center ¹ [With adjective] A place associated more than any other with a specified activity or product Wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization or available or contributed for a particular purpose such as starting a company or investing The excess of a company’s assets over its liabilities People who possess wealth and use it to control a society’s economic activity, considered collectively [With adjective; figurative] A valuable resource of a particular kind [Also capital letter] A letter of the size and form used to begin sentences and names [Architecture] The distinct, typically broader section at the head of a pillar or column ²	The seat of the US Congress in Washington, D.C. [Capitol] A building housing a legislative assembly The temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill in ancient Rome
Examples:
Adjective: Murder was a capital crime. The capital losses were tremendous. Milwaukee is the capital city of Wisconsin. R is a capital letter. He’s a really capital fellow. Exclamation: That’s splendid! Capital! Noun: Washington, D.C. is the capital city of the United States. Milan is the fashion capital of the world. The senior partner would provide the initial capital. Rates of return on invested capital were high. There was a conflict of interest between capital and labor. There is insufficient investment in human capital. He wrote the name in capitals.	I’m meeting the senator at the Capitol. Some 50,000 people marched on New Jersey’s state capitol. The first Capitol was the oldest large temple in Rome.
Derivatives:
Adjective: capital-intensive, capitalist, capitalistic Adverb: capitally, capitalistically Noun: capitalism, capitalist, capitalization Verb: capitalize
History of the Word:
Middle English relating to the head or top. Later it evolved to include standing at the head or beginning via the Old French from the Latin capitalis, which is from caput, meaning head. Middle English from the Old French capitel, which is from the late Latin capitellum or little head, a diminutive of the Latin caput.	1679, from the Old French capitolie, capitoile; it was later assimilated to the Latin Capitolium from caput, capit-, meaning, again, head.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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