capital

1) n. from Latin for caput, meaning "head," the basic assets of a business (particularly corporations or partnerships) or of an individual, including actual funds, equipment and property as distinguished from stock in trade, inventory, payroll, maintenance and services. 2) adj. related to the basic assets or activities of a business or individual, such as capital account, capital assets, capital expenditure, and capital gain or loss. 3) n. an amount of money a person owns, as in "how much capital do you have to put into this investment?" as distinguished from the amount which must be financed. (See: capital account, capital assets, capital gains or losses, stock in trade)

CAPITAL, political economy, commerce. In political economy, it is that portion of the produce of a country, which may be made directly available either to support the human species or to the facilitating of production.
     2. In commerce, as applied to individuals, it is those objects, whether consisting of money or other property, which a merchant, trader, or other person adventures in an undertaking, or which he contributes to the common stock of a partnership. 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1458.
     3. It signifies money put out at interest.
     4. The fund of a trading company or corporation is also called capital, but in this sense the word stock is generally added to it; thus we say the capital stock of the Bank of North America.

A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States. By John Bouvier. Published 1856.

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References in periodicals archive

On the other hand, Leeds Trinity University released a statement confirming they did not "ban" the use of capital letters and some other words, but rather confirmed their support for not using all capital letters.

Don't Use CAPITAL LETTERS or Words like 'Do Not' asks UK University to Staff

Not using capital letters makes a message hard to read, and as the journalism professors used to say, all caps is no caps, as nothing is emphasized.

Writing is still writing: if we want to be effective when we communicate, we would do well to remind ourselves that the old rules of rhetoric still apply

The document adds: "Remember underlining of key words and phrases or the use of bold or capital letters designed to make certain parts of a letter stand out is also an indication of a complaint."

TV licensing staff in UK given manual to detect when customers are angry

There's a highly unscientific law that states that, the angrier the person, the greater the percentage of capital letters used in their written correspondence.

Q&A ... asks readers their views on: the high cost of fuel

capital letters!" He jets to America today to kick off the Stateside leg of his tour.

PAUL'S UP FOR HAMPDEN GIG

You may have noticed that sometimes the word braille begins with a capital letter, while at other times it begins with a small "b." We all know that names begin with capital letters, and when we speak of Louis Braille the man we use a capital "B." When we discuss the tactile reading system he developed, we use the word braille with a lowercase "b" (despite what the dictionary built into Microsoft Word says).

Editor's page

The wood beam has "Ward" painted on it in all capital letters with a design on both ends, although it doesn't show very well.

Looking for leads on walking plow

The new bras, which have recently been handed to front-line female German police officers, come with the word C[pounds sterling]policeC[yen] in capital letters emblazoned around the elastic band.Julie Nesbit, chairman of the Police Federation of England and WalesCO Central ConstablesCO Committee, called for the sports-bra style garments to be introduced in Britain.C[pounds sterling]If it is something that is going to give women better protection, then we should see if that is something we can get hold of,C[yen] she said.GermanyCOs federal police have begun distributing the special wireless safety bras to some 3,000 female officers to prevent potentially lethal chest injuries, a spokesman said.

Bullet-proof bras call

Also, people gravitate to CAPITAL LETTERS. (Also see Coyne's bylined sidebar, below.)

E-marketing experts perform immersion baptism on 270 SIPA conference delegates

For example, Wired often sets off a new section by adding a line space and putting the first four words of the subsequent paragraph in boldface capital letters. This technique works well in short articles, too, where space is at a premium but you still need to create some sort of pause.

Stand out from the crowd: create "entry points" throughout your article to draw the reader in

Colonies and trust territories: An area administered by another country under the supervision of the United Nations is shown in italic capital letters. Following, in parentheses, is the name of the country that governs it.

Maps of the world: Junior Scholastic 2006-2007

In England, the London Times repeated the phrase in capital letters the next day with the lead sentence, "The Episcopal Church in America descended into chaos last night after leading bishops on both the liberal and conservative wings disassociated themselves from a last-gasp effort to avert a schism with the worldwide Anglican communion.

Anglican dissolution is near

Capital

capital