capitalize

C2+ Topic:Communication

US /ˈkæpɪtəˌlaɪz/ UK /ˈkæpɪtəlaɪz/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to take advantage of; to write in capital letters; to provide capital

The team capitalized on their rivals' mistake to win.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to take advantage of; to... exploit leverage profit benefitcash infund finance

Word family

Derived forms capitalization

Related forms capital capitalist capitalistic

Etymology

From capital + -ize. Capital is from Latin capitālis ('of the head, principal'), from caput ('head').

capitālis Latin caput Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication Word Formation & Derivatives

# capitalize

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈkæpɪtəˌlaɪz
**IPA (UK):** ˈkæpɪtəlaɪz

## Meanings
1. to take advantage of; to write in capital letters; to provide capital

## Examples
- The team capitalized on their rivals' mistake to win.

## Synonyms
- exploit
- leverage
- profit
- benefit
- cash in
- fund
- finance

## Derived Forms
- capitalization

## Related Forms
- capital
- capitalist
- capitalistic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: capitālis
- Root: caput

## Etymology
From capital + -ize. Capital is from Latin capitālis ('of the head, principal'), from caput ('head').

## AI Etymology
Capitalize comes from capital + -ize. Capital is from Latin capitālis ('of the head, principal'), from caput ('head'). The historical trail runs through capitālis in Latin and caput in Latin. Morphologically, capitalize is transparent: it draws on capital + -ize. Used as a verb, capitalize now means "take advantage of; to write in capital letters; to provide capital", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as capitalization and related forms such as capital, capitalist, and capitalistic. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Communication
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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capitalize

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