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capacity

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capacity

  • /kəˈpæsɪti/ UK
  • /kəˈpasɪtɪj/ British, Southern, Standard
  • /kəˈpasɪte/ Scotland
  • /-tɪ/ Scotland
  • /-ti/ Scotland
  • /kəˈpæsɪti/ Australia, Canada, US
  • [kəˈpæsɪɾi] Australia, Canada, US

Rhymes with -æsɪti

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Archaic Latin kapiō

Latin capiō

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ks

Proto-Italic *-āks

Latin -āx

Latin capāx

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-ts

Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts

Proto-Italic *-tāts

Latin -tās

Latin capācitāsder.

Old French capacitebor.

Middle English capacite

English capacity

From Middle English capacite, from Old French capacite, from Latin capācitās (whence -acity), from capāx (“able to hold much”), from capiō (“to hold, to contain, to take, to understand”).

noun capacities

  1. countable, uncountable The ability to hold, receive, or absorb.
  2. countable, uncountable A measure of such ability; volume.
  3. countable, uncountable The maximum amount that can be held. It was hauling a capacity load.
  4. countable, uncountable Capability; the ability to perform some task. Surprisingly few men are lacking in capacity, but they fail because they are lacking in application. Either they never learn how to work, or, having learned, they are too indolent to apply themselves with the seriousness and the attention that is necessary to solve important problems.
  5. countable, uncountable The maximum that can be produced.
  6. countable, uncountable The maximum that can be produced on a machine or in a facility or group. Its capacity rating was 150 tons per hour, but its actual maximum capacity was 200 tons per hour.
  7. countable, uncountable The potential for growth and development.
  8. countable, uncountable Mental ability; the power to learn.
  9. countable, uncountable A role; the position in which one functions. in my capacity as team captain
  10. countable, uncountable Legal authority (to make an arrest for example).
  11. countable, uncountable Electrical capacitance.

adjective

  1. not comparable Filling the allotted space.

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