SMALL CAPITAL • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Small capital

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/smɔl kˈæpətəl/ Listen

noun

capital n.

1.

(Arch.) The head or uppermost member of a column, pilaster, etc. It consists generally of three parts, abacus, bell (or vase), and necking. See these terms, and Column.

2.

(Geog.) The seat of government; the chief city or town in a country; a metropolis. "A busy and splendid capital"

3.

Money, property, or stock employed in trade, manufactures, etc.; the sum invested or lent, as distinguished from the income or interest. See Capital stock, under Capital, a.

4.

(Polit. Econ.) That portion of the produce of industry, which may be directly employed either to support human beings or to assist in production. Note: When wealth is used to assist production it is called capital. The capital of a civilized community includes fixed capital (i.e. buildings, machines, and roads used in the course of production and exchange) and circulating capital (i.e., food, fuel, money, etc., spent in the course of production and exchange).

5.

Anything which can be used to increase one's power or influence. "He tried to make capital out of his rival's discomfiture."

6.

(Fort.) An imaginary line dividing a bastion, ravelin, or other work, into two equal parts.

7.

A chapter, or section, of a book. (Obs.) "Holy St. Bernard hath said in the 59th capital."

8.

(Print.) See Capital letter, under Capital, a.

Active capital. See under Active,

Small capital (Print.), a small capital letter; informally referred to (in the plural) as small caps; as, the technical terms are listed in small caps. See under Capital, a.

To live on one's capital, to consume one's capital without producing or accumulating anything to replace it.

See images of 'Small capital'

Etymology of 'Small capital'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Small capital" Quotes from Famous Books

... suggestions as to criminals whose claims to be included in this literary chamber of horrors were in his, Sir Richard's, opinion unquestionable. The English character of the compilation was soon sacrificed in order to admit notable malefactors of other nationalities, and the drain upon the editor's small capital became greater ...

— The Life of George Borrow • Herbert Jenkins

... "I double their production. Where they get two tons of hay I get four or four and a half, where they get forty-five barrels of potatoes I get a hundred. Only the other day I got L20 for a bullock I had taken pains with to fatten him up scientifically. Of course I had a small capital to start with: but where did I get that? Not from the Government. I earned and saved it myself; and then I wasn't above learning how best ...

— Ireland Under Coercion (2nd ed.) (2 of 2) (1888) • William Henry Hurlbert

... progressively, according to his length of employment and the value of the services he rendered. He furnished free tuition, free medical attendance, and a free library for employes; a provident fund affording a small capital for males and a marriage portion for females at the expiration of ten or fifteen years of service; a free reading room for the public; and a free art gallery for artists to exhibit their paintings or sculptures. After his sudden death in 1877, his only son carried ...

— How to Succeed - or, Stepping-Stones to Fame and Fortune • Orison Swett Marden

... course of progress; he may retrace his steps now that the pendulum seems to swing the other way. And if he finds under the new regime less chance for the hardy topman, no opportunity for the shrewd trader to a hundred ports, the gates closed to the man of small capital, yet be sure he will conquer fate in some way. We have seen it in the armed branch of the seafaring profession only within a few months. When the fine old sailing frigates vanished from the seas, when ...

— American Merchant Ships and Sailors • Willis J. Abbot

... two hundred and fifty a year." But since that time it had, according to him, become an anachronism, a kind of archaic property, a fancy fox which was only permissible in very wealthy people. He therefore realized his land and turned it into a small capital, which he placed, after consulting with a friend of his who frequented the Stock Exchange, in foreign bonds, in shares and securities, thus doubling and tripling his revenue without any risk to his regular ...

— Rene Mauperin • Edmond de Goncourt and Jules de Goncourt

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