2022-01-09
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – C – capital & capitol
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียง capital & capitol = “KAP-i-tl”
Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary
A “capitol” is always a building.
Cities and all other uses are spelled with an A in the last syllable.
Would it help to remember
that Congress with an O meets in the Capitol with another O?
Dictionary.com:
CULTURAL DEFINITIONS FOR CAPITAL
capital
In architecture, the top portion of a column.
NOTES FOR CAPITAL
The form of the capital often
serves to distinguish one style of architecture from another.
For example, the Corinthian, Doric, and Ionic styles
of Greek architecture all have different capitals.
Dictionary.com:
SYNONYM STUDY FOR CAPITAL
The adjectives capital, chief, major, principal
apply to a main orleading representative of a kind.
Capital may mean larger or more prominent;
it may also suggestpreeminence or excellence:
capital letter, idea, virtue, etc.
Chief means leading, highest in office or power:
the chief clerk.
Major may refer to greatness of importance, number, or quantity:
a major operation, the major part of a population.
Principal refers to most distinguished, influential, or foremost:
principal officer.
Dictionary.com:
“Capital” vs. “Capitol”: Do You Know Where You’re Going?
Published July 22, 2020
Capital and capitol are both
commonly used in political CONTEXT
and are separated by just one letter,
making them frustratingly easy to confuse.
When it comes to these two terms,
it’s important to note that one has a number of meanings
while the other refers to a certain type of building.
What is a capital?
Capital has many definitions.
It can mean “the wealth owned or employed in business by
an individual, firm, corporation, etc.”;
and it can mean “principal; highly important,”
as in safety was their capital concern.
Also, it can mean “uppercase letter.”
But the capital that gives most people trouble
is this one:
“the city or town that is the official SEAT of government
in a country or state,”
as in the capital of California is Sacramento or the capital of the United States is Washington, DC.
What is a capitol?
Capitol also has to do with government,
but it is more specific:
capitol is defined as “a building occupied by a state legislature.”
When the word Capitol is capitalized,
it refers to the United States Capitol,
a building in Washington, DC,
that hosts Congress,
the legislative branch of the US federal government.
Both capital and capitol are derived from the Latin root caput,
meaning “head.”
Capital evolved from the words capitālis, “of the head,”
and capitāle, “wealth.”
Capitol comes from Capitōlium,
the name of a temple (dedicated to Jupiter,
the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Zeus)
that once sat on the smallest of Rome’s seven hills,
Capitoline Hill.
How do I tell the difference?
Because capital and capitol are so close in spelling,
it can be challenging to remember which word denotes what.
As a mnemonic trick, consider the importance of
the letter O in capitol.
This O stands for “only one” definition,
while the A in capital stands for “all the rest.”
If that doesn’t work, try associating the O in capitol
with the spherical dome of the US Capitol building.
Once you know the difference, you can use them correctly.
When you are referring to a building,
you should use capitol:
- Hundreds of protesters turned out for a rally at the capitol lawn.
- During the massive restoration of the historic capitol, workers discovered some interesting artifacts, including a variety of valuable coins.
When you are referring to a city or town, you should use capital:
- Denver is Colorado’s capital and a great place to visit if you’d like to explore the Rocky Mountains
- This quiz will test the children’s knowledge of the state capitals.
And when you’re referring to a music studio?
That would be the Capitol Records building,
but we’ll save music history for another day.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Capital and Capitol: Which One to Use Where
What a pair these are:
they sound identical and look nearly identical
and both have meaningsthat relate to government.
Mastering their use, however, is simple.
The key is this: capitol, the one with an "o," is very limited in use.
It appears in the term Capitol Hill,
and is used to refer to one very particular and famous building,
to some other similar buildings, and, occasionally,
to a group of buildings that includes those similar buildings.
For all other meanings, the word you want is capital.
This means that in a state's capital city
is a building or group of buildings properly referred to
with the word capitol, with an "o."
In this use capitol is synonymous with statehouse:
both refer to the building or group of buildings
where a state legislature meets.
The phrase capital city utilizes capital
because it refers to a city, not to a building or group of buildings.
Capitol with a capital "C"
refers to the particular building in Washington, D.C.
where the U.S. Congress meets.
It often appears before other nouns in phrases
like the Capitol building and Capitol police,
and is very frequently used in the term Capitol Hill,
which refers both to
the legislative branch of the United States government
as well as tothe location of the Capitol building.
The Capitol, like many state capitol buildings,
has a rounded dome that is somewhat reminiscent of the top of an "o," which may help some remember the "o" spelling.
Note that the word capital as used to describe an uppercase letter,
like in the phrase capital "C", utilizes capital.
The word capital has three distinct homographs,
two for noun uses and one for adjective uses.
Readers should consult those entries
for the various meanings of capital,
but can be assured that they all end in al, rather than ol.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Usage Notes
'Capitol' or 'Capital'?
Explaining the difference
What to Know
Capitol has a rather narrow meaning referring to a building
or group of buildingsin which a legislative body meets
and performs the functions of government.
Capital has a wide range of meanings:
as an adjective, it can mean "important,"
"relating to the seat of government," and
"punishable by death,"
or describe non-lowercase letters; as a noun,
capital means "a city that is the seat of government,"
"net worth," or
"advantage."
When one is presented with a pair of words
that are similar in appearance,
the chance for confusion is always high.
In many cases the risk of mixing the words up is lessened if
they have semantic differences,
as is the case with assent and ascent.
The former (assent) may be a verb (meaning “to agree”) or
a noun (“an act of agreeing”),
while the latter (ascent) is only found as a noun,
and has meanings such as
“climb,” “an upward slope,” and “progress.”
Things get a bit trickier when there is overlap between similar words, which is why so many people find themselves
Flummoxed by capitol and capital.
Both words are often used in reference to government,
and the physical location of one of these is typically found
within the other, so this confusion is understandable.
We are happy to report that there is a simple way of telling them apart.
'Capitol' Usage
Capitol comes from the Latin Capitolium,
the name of the temple of Jupiter at Rome on the Capitoline hill.
The historical Oxford English Dictionary defines the word’s earliest use
in English, dating from the late 14th century,
as “The temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus,
on the Saturnian or Tarpeian (later called Capitoline) Hill at Rome,
the smallest of its seven hills.”
By the late 17th century the word was being used in the sense of
“a building in which a state legislative body meets.”
It subsequently took on a small number of additional meanings,
including as
“a group of buildings in which the functions of state government are carried out” and
“the building in which the U.S. Congress meets at Washington”
(this use is capitalized).
Capitol, however, has not broadened very much in meaning;
it almost always is used for a building,
and even the term capital Hill
(“the legislative branch of the U.S. government”)
is a reference to a particular structure, the Capitol.
'Capital' Usage
Capital, on the other hand,
has a far wider range of meanings and application.
This word comes from Latin as well, from caput (meaning “head”),
and may function as either an adjective or noun.
Among the more common adjectival meanings are:
“of a letter: of or conforming to the series A, B, C, etc.
rather than a, b, c,” “being the seat of government,”
“chief in importance or influence,”
“punishable by death,”
“most serious,”
“excellent,” and
“of or relating to capital.”
As a noun, it may mean such things as
“a city serving as a seat of government,”
“a store of useful assets or advantages,”
“net worth,” and
“advantage, gain.”
Keeping them Separate
As an example of
the narrow meaning of capitol, and the breadth of capital,
consider the various ways that we might use these two words.
We could speak of a group that has invaded a nation’s capital,
or that has plundered that nation’s capital possessions,
all because someone or other thought this was a capital idea.
Some might consider this a capital offense,
one that results in capital punishment.
Others might say that it is foolish to waste political capital
on such an endeavor.
There are a number of other ways
in which capital might find itself employed
in describing something such as this.
The use of capitol, on the other hand,
is really only going to come about
if the story contains mention of a certain type of building
where government functions are carried out,
or if it is in reference to where the U.S. Congress meets in Washington.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Words at Play
Financial Words With Surprising Origins
A capital bruise, a budget of news,
the fund of a bottle, and more
Capital
The first known use of the word capital is in early Middle English,
in which it was used as an adjective meaning "of or relating to the head."
It is derived from the Latin adjective capitalis, of the same meaning, which is based on the Latin name for "head," caput.
The word was originally used to indicate something affecting the head,
as in "a capital bruise" or "a capital wound."
Injuries to the head can be serious and even fatal;
by extension, capital came to describe people
or things threatening the loss of life—for example, a capital enemy.
Such deadly uses of capital have since died away
except in describing crimes, like murder, that are punishable by death
or the punishment, as the loss of one’s head, inflicted for such crimes.
The other familiar "head" sense of capital
refers to a letter standing at the head of a page, passage, or line,
and it was also in currency about the same time.
In Latin, capitalis also meant "chief" or "principal."
That meaning was adopted into English in the 15th century
to describe things of importance,
such as a city, district, manor, or monastery.
Nowadays, the noun capital is commonly used in reference to
principal cities.
Both the French and Italians adopted capitalis with this sense
in the form capitale.
Their word eventually came to refer to an essential stock of goods
used to enter into business.
The other worde, the Italians call the Capitall,
that is to saie, the Stocke or principall that the Marchant began with all....
And it is at your pleasure
whether ye will use this worde Stocke in Englishe, or Capitale.
— J. Y. Christoffels, Notable Woorke Book Accompties, 1547
This financial word worked its way into English in the 16th century
from either French or Italian.
In time, capital gained more worth with additional meanings,
including "accumulated goods to produce other goods" and
"accumulated possessions calculated to bring in income."
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Words We're Watching
'Human Capital': More Than the Sum of Its Parts
Nothing less than the totality of human experience...
as it applies to your job.
Update: This word was added in September 2020.
Dictionaries have traditionally avoided defining
some compound terms—those formed by combining words
—for one major reason:
to save precious space on the printed page.
Hence, certain terms deemed “self-explanatory,”
like orange juice or cattle ranch, are not entries:
you can just look up the two words and derive the meanings.
Sometimes, however, you just can’t.
Some terms take on meanings that are figurative,
and are therefore no longer self-explanatory, like laundry list.
Others could never be derived from their constituent parts,
Like dude ranch.
And some have hovered in a gray area for centuries,
like human capital.
The word capital comes from the Latin word caput, meaning “head,” hence its many derivative meanings, including “the top of a column”
—the oldest use of the word in English—and “the seat of government.”
The words chief and chef both also derive from caput.
As a noun, the non-architectural senses of capital developed
first to refer to the tall letters that began sentences,
then to the major city of a region, then to the preeminent city
for an industry or activity (“the fashion capital”),
then finally to a stock of accumulated goods,
the value of those goods, net worth, or available money.
From these meanings relating to “value,”
a figurative meaning of “advantage” or “gain” developed,
as did “a store of useful assets or advantages.”
These meanings explain the way capital
is used in such phrases
as political capital and cultural capital.
Human capital is a bit different.
The Oxford English Dictionary first records its use in relation to
the high mortality rate due to alcoholism of young adults in 18th-century Russia:
In order to simplify in numbers the loss sustained by the country
in its human-capital through the means of this pernicious liquor,
let us admit, that
the mortality, from the fifteenth to the twentieth year,
observes the same proportion
which holds good in general from birth to the fifteenth year.
—William Tooke, View of the Russian Empire during the reign of Catharine the second, and to the close of the present century, London, 1799
In recent use,
human capital continues to be used to mean
something broader than simply “labor force” or “workforce”:
These uses,
taking a holistic view of a person’s life
and experiences as they can be applied within the workforce,
correspond to the way human capital is defined by
the Nobel-prize winning economist Gary Becker,
who applied the methods of economics to aspects of human behavior previously considered the domain of sociology and demography.
His 1964 book on the subject was titled, appropriately enough,
Human Capital.
Both the broad and narrow uses of human capital are in use today.
Though we might think that terms like
human capital management sound like business jargon
or a fancy way of saying human resources,
in fact, there’s a long—and labored—history to this use.
