capitalize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to write or print in capital letters letters or with an initial capital letter.
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to authorize a certain amount of stocks and bonds in the corporate charter of.
to capitalize a corporation.
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to issue stock as a dividend, thereby capitalizing retained earnings, or as settlement of an unpaid arrearage of preferred dividends.
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Accounting. to set up (expenditures) as business assets in the books of account instead of treating as expense.
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to supply with capital.
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to estimate the value of (a stock or an enterprise).
verb (used without object)
verb
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to take advantage (of); profit (by)
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to write or print (text) in capital letters or with the first letter of (a word or words) in capital letters
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to convert (debt or retained earnings) into capital stock
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to authorize (a business enterprise) to issue a specified amount of capital stock
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to provide with capital
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accounting to treat (expenditures) as assets
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to estimate the present value of (a periodical income)
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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
- capitalizable adjective
- capitalizer noun
- noncapitalized adjective
- uncapitalized adjective
Etymology
Origin of capitalize
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Baidu’s AI chip unit, Kunlunxin, files for a Hong Kong stock exchange listing, capitalizing on strong investor interest in domestic AI technology.
From Barron's
Clients are often engaged couples, small-business owners or others hoping to capitalize on big expenditures.
Detroit scored 74 points in the paint, the most allowed by the Lakers all season, and capitalized on 21 Lakers turnovers for 30 points.
From Los Angeles Times
The company is planning its biggest factory spending in about 15 years to capitalize on demand in building AI infrastructure.
In 1978, Habener set up his own lab at Harvard’s Massachusetts General Hospital, looking to capitalize on a new technology for cloning genes by studying pancreatic and other hormones.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
