capacity

American  

[kuh-pas-i-tee] / kəˈpæs ɪ ti /

noun

• capacities
  plural

1. the ability to receive or contain.

   This hotel has a large capacity.

2. the maximum amount or number that can be received or contained; cubic contents; volume.

   The inn is filled to capacity.

   The gasoline tank has a capacity of 20 gallons.

   Synonyms:

   amplitude

3. power of receiving impressions, knowledge, etc.; mental ability.

   the capacity to learn calculus.

   Synonyms:

   talent, endowment

4. actual or potential ability to perform, yield, or withstand.

   He has a capacity for hard work.

   The capacity of the oil well was 150 barrels a day.

   She has the capacity to go two days without sleep.

   Synonyms:

   capability, competence, adequacy, aptitude

5. quality or state of being susceptible to a given treatment or action.

   Steel has a high capacity to withstand pressure.

6. position; function; role.

   He served in the capacity of legal adviser.

7. legal qualification.

8. Electricity.

   1. capacitance.

   2. maximum possible output.

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adjective

1. reaching maximum capacity.

   a capacity audience;

   a capacity crowd.

capacity British  

/ kəˈpæsɪtɪ /

noun

1. the ability or power to contain, absorb, or hold

2. the amount that can be contained; volume

   a capacity of six gallons

3. 1. the maximum amount something can contain or absorb (esp in the phrase filled to capacity )

   2. ( as modifier )

      a capacity crowd

4. the ability to understand or learn; aptitude; capability

   he has a great capacity for Greek

5. the ability to do or produce (often in the phrase at capacity )

   the factory's output was not at capacity

6. a specified position or function

   he was employed in the capacity of manager

7. a measure of the electrical output of a piece of apparatus such as a motor, generator, or accumulator

8. electronics a former name for capacitance

9. computing

   1. the number of words or characters that can be stored in a particular storage device

   2. the range of numbers that can be processed in a register

10. the bit rate that a communication channel or other system can carry

11. legal competence

    the capacity to make a will

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• capacities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of capacity

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English capacite, capasite, from Middle French, from Latin capācitāt-, stem of capācitās “ability, understanding,” equivalent to capāci- (stem of capāx “confident, fit, roomy,” equivalent to cap(ere) “to take, seize” + -āx, adjective suffix) + -tās -ty ²

Explanation

Capacity describes your ability to do something or the amount something can hold. If your bird cage is at full capacity, you can't stuff one more feathered friend in there without causing birdie claustrophobia. From the Latin word capacitatem meaning “breadth, capacity,” capacity is a noun that in the simplest sense means "ability" or "capability": the capability of a room to hold a certain number of people, the ability of a law to change crime rates, your ability to pick up foreign languages. You might hear about factories working at "full capacity" — that means at full speed, producing as much as they possibly can.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

capacity capacities

This capacity for solidarity-building is the true transformative power of political cinema, which needn’t persuade us that we are all alike so much as show us that in our differences we remain connected.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026

Earlier this month, key members of the OPEC+ alliance agreed to keep output stable in October after six straight monthly increases, as they review members’ production capacity baselines to determine future quotas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Compute capacity refers to what’s needed to run AI models.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

All say they are investing in extra capacity, working through backlogs and redesigning pathways, and are already seeing early signs of improvement.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Bobby saved the game with his fighting spirit, and his creative capacity was restored.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Germany’s intelligence service lacks the statutory mandate or capacities of the Central Intelligence Agency to carry out covert operations on foreign soil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

"It really upends a theory that says that symbolic rule induction is not possible without linguistic capacities," says Kean.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

All three prisons have maximum capacities of more than 1,000, higher than Lowdham Grange.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

He also launched a series of reforms on procurement and air defence capacities but struggled to overcome Ukraine's everlasting mobilisation problems.

From Barron's ● Jul. 16, 2026

Here’s more: “I feel a thousand capacities spring up in me. I am arch, gay, languid, melancholy by turns. I am rooted, but I flow. All gold, flowing...”

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

Related Words

• capability
• competence
• efficiency
• facility
• power
• readiness
• skill
• strength
• talent