Meaning
Money and wealth: the means to acquire or produce goods and services, especially in a non-barter system.
Etymology
Origin: Old English
From Middle English capital, borrowed partly from Old French capital and partly from Latin capitālis (“of the head”) (in sense “head of cattle”), from caput (“head”) (English cap) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives). Use in trade and finance originated in Medieval economies when a common but expensive transaction involved trading heads of cattle. The noun is from the adjective. In the fourth sense, displaced native Old English hēafodburg, equivalent to head + borough (“city”). Compare chattel and kith and kine (“all one’s possessions”), which also use “cow” to mean “property”. Doublet of cattle and chattel.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 3 recorded puzzles: