 Re: Why "capital"?
capital
c.1225, from L. capitalis "of the head," from caput (gen. capitis) "head" (see head). A capital crime (1526) is one that affects the life, or the "head." The noun for "chief town" is first recorded 1667 (the O.E. word was heafodstol). The financial sense (1630) is from L.L. capitale "stock, property," neut. of capitalis. Of ships, "first-rate, of the line," attested from 1652. Capital letters (c.1391) are at the "head" of a sentence or word. Capitalism first recorded 1854; originally "the condition of having capital;" as a political/economic system, 1877. Capitalist is 1791, from Fr. capitaliste, a coinage of the Revolution and a term of reproach. |