Capitalization
/ˌkæpɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/
nounIntermediateCommonBusiness
Meaning
Questions
Definitions
1
The process of converting something into capital; the total value of a company's shares; the writing of a word with an initial capital letter.
/ˌkæpɪtəlaɪˈzeɪʃən/
nounneutralIntermediate
Business
The act of capitalizing; the state of being capitalized.
The market capitalization of the company is over $1 billion.
💡 Simply: Making something into capital (money) or writing a word with a big letter at the beginning.
More Examples
2
Pay attention to capitalization in your essays.
How It's Used
Finance
"The company's capitalization increased after the successful IPO."
Grammar
"Correct capitalization is important for clear writing."
From Middle English *capitalisacioun*, from Old French *capitalisacion*, from Latin *capitalis* ('capital'). The modern sense relating to financial capital developed later.
Early uses primarily focused on the financial sense; the grammatical sense became more prevalent later.
Memory tip
Think 'capital' letters and 'capital' investment.
Practice
Base: capital
capatalizationcapitalisationcapitilization
Usage
20%Spoken
80%Written