capitalization

American  

[kap-i-tl-uh-zey-shuhn] / ˌkæp ɪ tl əˈzeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act or process of capitalizing.

2. the authorized or outstanding stocks and bonds of a corporation.

3. Accounting.

   1. the total investment of the owner or owners in a business enterprise.

   2. the total corporate liability.

   3. the total arrived at after addition of liabilities.

4. conversion into stocks or bonds.

5. the act of computing the present value of future periodical payments.

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capitalization British  

/ ˌkæpɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃən /

noun

1. 1. the act of capitalizing

   2. the sum so derived

2. accounting the par value of the total share capital issued by a company, including the loan capital and sometimes reserves

3. the act of estimating the present value of future payments, earnings, etc

4. the act of writing or printing in capital letters

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Usage

What does capitalization mean? Capitalization is the act of using capital letters. A capital letter (A, B, C, etc.) is a letter of the alphabet that is bigger than the lower case version (e.g., c, o, s) and sometimes styled differently as well (e.g., a, b, q). In English, we use capital letters for several reasons. The most common reasons we use capitalization in English are to begin a sentence and to indicate a proper noun. We capitalize the first letter of the first word of a sentence to show that this is the beginning of the sentence, as in Who took my wallet?This includes complete sentences that are used in quotations, as in Mom said, “We are going to the mall.”We also use capitalization for proper nouns, that is a particular person, place, or thing, like James, New York, or the Library of Congress. Sometimes, though, companies name themselves or their products without any capitalization or with capitalization in the middle of the word (sometimes called camel case), as in adidas, eBay, and WikiAnswers. The pronoun I is always capitalized, no matter where it is used in a sentence, as in He went to the park, but I stayed home.

Etymology

Origin of capitalization

First recorded in 1855–60; capitalize + -ation

Explanation

Capitalization means using capital, or upper-case, letters. Capitalization of place names, family names, and days of the week are all standard in English. Using capital letters at the start of a sentence and capitalizing all the letters in a word for emphasis are both examples of capitalization. Capitalization also means the act of gaining an advantage from some opportunity: "Her capitalization of the voters' frustration made it much easier for her to win the election." The earliest meaning, however, was purely financial, from the sense of capitalize that means "convert financial assets to capital."

Example Sentences

That ratio is the index’s market capitalization divided by the sum of consensus earnings estimates for constituent companies for the next 12 months.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 9, 2026

Most reassuringly, the last trading activity signal, short interest for S&P stocks is very high at 3.2% of the index capitalization.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026

They were two of the smallest companies by market capitalization, thus making them vulnerable to deletion.

From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026

With a market capitalization of more than $4.6 trillion, Apple is one of the world’s most valuable companies.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026

The rules of capitalization are so unfair to words in the middle of a sentence.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

Related Words

• funding