- (also capital city)[countable] the most important town or city of a country or region, where the government operates from
- Cairo is the capital of Egypt.
- the state capital
- Rennes is the provincial capital of Brittany.
- a tour of six European capital cities
- She liked the fast pace of life in the capital.
- (figurative) Paris, the fashion capital of the world
Extra Examples- Last week's gathering in the Californian state capital was no ordinary event.
- The department store has branches in all major capitals.
- Troops are stationed in and around the capital.
- Los Angeles is the movie capital of the world.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- great
- major
- British
- …
- in a/the capital
- capital of
- the… capital of the world
- (also capital letter)[countable] a letter of the form and size that is used at the beginning of a sentence or a name (= A,B,C rather than a,b,c)
- in capitals Please write in capitals.
- [uncountable] wealth or property that is owned by a business or a person and can be invested or used to start a business
- share/investment/equity capital
- He had various ideas on how to raise capital for the project.
- a guide to investing capital in new markets
- Our capital is all tied up in property.
- capital investment (= money invested in a business)
- capital expenditure/spending (= money that an organization spends on buildings, equipment, etc.)
- capital costs/assets
- the capital value of the property
Extra Examples- He sank vast amounts of capital in the venture.
- They secured $175 million in capital funding from investors.
- Inner city areas require a large injection of capital.
- Investors want an immediate return on their capital.
- The company has put a lot of capital into the project.
- We don't have enough capital to buy new premises.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- risk
- venture
- fixed
- …
- have
- accumulate
- acquire
- …
- assets
- goods
- resources
- …
- capital and labour/labor
- an injection of capital
- a return on your capital
- …
- [singular] an amount of money that is invested or is used to start a business
- to set up a business with a starting capital of £100 000
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- risk
- venture
- fixed
- …
- have
- accumulate
- acquire
- …
- assets
- goods
- resources
- …
- capital and labour/labor
- an injection of capital
- a return on your capital
- …
- [uncountable] (specialist) people who use their money to start businesses, considered as a group
- capital and labour
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- risk
- venture
- fixed
- …
- have
- accumulate
- acquire
- …
- assets
- goods
- resources
- …
- capital and labour/labor
- an injection of capital
- a return on your capital
- …
- [uncountable] (in compounds) a valuable resource of a particular kind
- Education creates intellectual capital to convert into economic and social rewards.
- Immigrant children have cultural capital of their own—including their home language—which may be undervalued.
- the top part of a columnTopics Buildingsc2
city
letter
money
resources
architecture
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 5 Middle English (as an adjective in the sense ‘relating to the head or top’, later ‘standing at the head or beginning’): via Old French from Latin capitalis, from caput ‘head’. noun sense 6 Middle English: from Old French capitel, from late Latin capitellum ‘little head’, diminutive of Latin caput.
Idioms
See capital in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee capital in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishmake capital (out) of something
- to use a situation for your own advantage
- The opposition parties are making political capital out of the government's problems.
Check pronunciation:
capital