English grammar can be very tricky. Most of the times, word pairs can lead to a confusion. Often, you will find yourself on the fence when deciding Capital or Capitol. Why? Because it changes the meaning of the entire sentence. There are several word pairs that look like twins in appearance or sound similar but have different meaning/interpretation.
Let us take a close look at the words “Capital” and “Capitol”. The words “Capital” and “Capitol” both are derived from the Latin word “caput” which means “head”.
“Capital” was derived from the words “capitalis” and “capitāle” which means “of the head” and “wealth” respectively. “Capitol” was derived from the word “Capitōlium”, the well-known temple of the gods in Greek history that was located on top of Capitoline Hill.
Meaning of Capital
The word “Capital” can mean capital of a city, the capital of a business, or maybe referring to uppercase letters in a word.
Examples of the correct use of “Capital”:
1. Meaning – Capital city
In 1853, Olympia became Washington’s capital city.
2. Meaning – Alphabet in capital/uppercase letters
The name “Bill” begins with the capital letter “B”.
3. Meaning – Capital of a business
The startup raised successfully a capital of $1 million in the first quarter itself.
4. Meaning – Extremely important
Finding a solution to the sudden outburst of the people was of capital concern.
Meaning of Capitol
In the U.S., “Capitol” is the name of a popular government building where the U.S. Senate and members of the congress are housed. The word “Capitol” with a capital “C” is used to address the U.S. Capitol building.
Examples of the correct use of “Capitol”:
1. The United States Congress work in the United States Capitol building in Washington.
2. The discussion was to take place at the Capitol building today.
Here’s a tricky sentence as an example:
I have used “Capitol” letters in this sentence but I have used the incorrect spelling of “Capital” in this sentence. This sentence is still correct. Think about it. Replacing a small letter ‘o’ with ‘a’ in this sentence makes a lot of difference.
Now you know why understanding Capital vs. Capitol is important.
