capitalize

American  

[kap-i-tl-ahyz] / ˈkæp ɪ tlˌaɪz /

especially British, capitalise

verb (used with object)

• capitalizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• capitalized,
  past participle,  past
• capitalizing
  present participle

1. to write or print in capital letters letters or with an initial capital letter.

2. to authorize a certain amount of stocks and bonds in the corporate charter of.

   to capitalize a corporation.

3. to issue stock as a dividend, thereby capitalizing retained earnings, or as settlement of an unpaid arrearage of preferred dividends.

4. Accounting. to set up (expenditures) as business assets in the books of account instead of treating as expense.

5. to supply with capital.

6. to estimate the value of (a stock or an enterprise).

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verb (used without object)

• capitalizes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• capitalized,
  past participle,  past
• capitalizing
  present participle

1. to take advantage of; turn something to one's advantage (often followed byon ).

   to capitalize on one's opportunities.

   Synonyms:

   utilize, exploit

capitalize British  

/ ˈkæpɪtəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. to take advantage (of); profit (by)

2. to write or print (text) in capital letters or with the first letter of (a word or words) in capital letters

3. to convert (debt or retained earnings) into capital stock

4. to authorize (a business enterprise) to issue a specified amount of capital stock

5. to provide with capital

6. accounting to treat (expenditures) as assets

7. 1. to estimate the present value of (a periodical income)

   2. to compute the present value of (a business) from actual or potential earnings

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Usage

What does capitalize mean? To capitalize a word is to make its first letter a capital letter—an uppercase letter. For example, to capitalize the word polish (which is here spelled with a lowercase p), you would write it as Polish. A word whose first letter is a capital can be described as capitalized. The state of being capitalized (or the process of capitalizing) is called capitalization, as in Please check your paper for proper punctuation and capitalization.  In English, words are capitalized for a few different reasons. It is considered a standard rule of English to capitalize proper nouns (which are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or things—meaning one’s that have specific names), such as Jess, Mexico, and Nintendo. Capitalizing a word can change the way the reader interprets its meaning, as in the case of polish (a verb meaning to make something shinier) and Polish (an adjective describing someone from Poland) or apple (the fruit) and Apple (the company). We also capitalize the first word in a sentence. Sometimes, we capitalize the first letter of each word in a title, as in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Example: A lot of people don’t bother to capitalize words when sending text messages. Capitalize also has several other meanings. To capitalize on something means to take advantage of it. You can capitalize on an opportunity or a situation by doing something to benefit from it in some way. Example: The company is capitalizing on the publicity by releasing new merchandise. In the context of finance, capitalize is used in more specific and technical ways. The most straightforward sense of the word in this context means to supply with capital (money). Example: Most startups are capitalized by friends and family members before they’re able to secure significant funding.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• capitalizer
  noun
• capitalizable
  adjective
• noncapitalized
  adjective
• uncapitalized
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• capitalizing
  present
• capitalized
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• capitalize
  simple
• capitalizes
  simple
• have capitalized
  perfect
• has capitalized
  perfect
• am capitalizing
  progressive
• are capitalizing
  progressive
• is capitalizing
  progressive
• have been capitalizing
  perfect progressive
• has been capitalizing
  perfect progressive

Past

• capitalized
  simple
• had capitalized
  perfect
• was capitalizing
  progressive
• were capitalizing
  progressive
• had been capitalizing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will capitalize
  simple
• will have capitalized
  perfect
• will be capitalizing
  progressive
• will have been capitalizing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of capitalize

An Americanism dating back to 1755–65; capital ¹ + -ize

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Explanation

To capitalize is to put something in capital letters, particularly the first letters, Like This. To capitalize also means to take advantage of a situation. The first word of every sentence is capitalized, and to capitalize is to write in capital (or upper-case) letters. To capitalize also means to take advantage of an opportunity. Graduates try to capitalize on their degrees by getting well-paying jobs. A football team tries to capitalize on the other team’s mistakes, such as making a touchdown after an interception. It might help you to remember that capitalizing is a good thing if you know capital is also another word for money.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

capitalize capitalizes capitalized capitalizing

A Pentagon office has been tasked with someday executing the financial transaction to capitalize on the U.S. government’s 35% share in the venture.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

In July, the group took control of clothing resale site Depop for $1.2 billion, seeking to capitalize on the rise of the secondhand apparel market.

From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026

And in my next issue of Let’s Analyze, I’ll break down the leveraged Treasury trade I just added to my own portfolio to capitalize if yields continue falling.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The Army is also in the throes of upgrading battlefield connectivity and communications, steps that are key to being able to fully capitalize on next-generation weaponry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026

Unlike most Americans, however, Holmes sought also to capitalize on the craze by buying bicycles on credit, then reselling them without ever paying off the initial purchase.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Stetson Bennett capitalizes on extended playing time, leading four scoring drives and rushing for two touchdowns in the Rams’ 34-0 preseason win over the Saints.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Selling the silver production rights could generate $1.1 billion to $1.8 billion in cash proceeds as it capitalizes on the elevated price of silver, the analysts say in a note.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

Mitch Marner scores three goals as Vegas capitalizes on three first-period goals and holds off a late Ducks surge to take a 6-2 win and a 2-1 series lead.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

Borges expects Azure to drive revenue estimates higher in 2026 as it capitalizes on a “fungible” capacity, meaning that its data centers can be easily utilized for a variety of different workloads and customers.

From MarketWatch ● Jan. 12, 2026

The draft 1996 budget, which had raised concerns about inflation, capitalizes on the "peace dividend" to boost expenditures on the repair and upgrading of infrastructure.

From The 1996 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

CoreWeave generated $679 million in operating cash flow during the quarter while spending $6.422 billion in cash on property and equipment, including capitalized internal-use software.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

Outside of the gym, Chiles has capitalized on her Olympic stardom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

The fund said the banking system remained well capitalized and liquid, with loans and deposits continuing to grow, though liquidity had tightened since the fighting began.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The shares have jumped more than 156% so far in 2026 as the company has capitalized on the AI boom.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026

And though it’s often seen with a small initial r, it’s supposed to be capitalized as a registered service mark owned by the National Association of Realtors.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

More marketers are capitalizing on consumers’ desire to stop scrolling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

As for ON Semiconductor, he noted that the company is capitalizing on improving demand for the chips specific to the industrial and automotive sectors.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

Who ever heard of a major movie studio throwing $75 million at a follow-up that serves no purpose other than capitalizing on learned nostalgia, exacerbated by social media clip farming and seasonal wistfulness?

From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026

Toyota, meanwhile, is pumping out a string of new models, capitalizing on surging demand for hybrids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Each story generated more publicity, and Regina, while conflicted about her son’s prospects, tried to help Bobby by capitalizing on the attention.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

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Related Words

• exploit
• take advantage of

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