capacity

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The amount that something can hold or contain.

   The fuel tank has a capacity of fifty litres.

2. 2
   noun

   The ability to do or produce something.

   Among their gifts is a remarkable capacity for kindness.

3. 3
   noun

   The largest amount that something can produce.

   The factory is currently working at eighty per cent of its capacity.

4. 4
   noun

   A particular position or role that someone has.

   In my capacity as director, I attend many meetings.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂-k-s Proto-Italic *-āks Latin -āx Latin capāx Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Latin -tās Latin capācitāsder. Old French capacitebor. Middle English capacite English capacity From Middle English capacite, from Old French capacite, from Latin capācitās, from capāx (“able to hold much”), from capiō (“to hold, to contain, to take, to understand”).

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