English
capacity
Capacity comes from Old French capacite, from Latin capācitās ‘capability’, from capāx ‘able to hold much’, from capiō ‘to take, hold’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō‘to take, seize; to hold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapāx‘that can hold much’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapācitās‘capability, capacity’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400capacite
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1929capacity
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō‘to take, seize; to hold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapāx‘that can hold much’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapācitās‘capability, capacity’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400capacite
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1929capacity
Earliest quotation: 1929, Calvin Coolidge, The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge: “Surprisingly few men are lacking in capacity, but they…”
Formed from -acity
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kap-
had, head, case, except, heavy, receive, behavior, cash, catch, accept, heavily, captain, chapter, capital, chase, achieve, cable, escape, chef, reception, perception, haven, capable, capture, occupation, recipe, behave, cattle, cabin, chapel, cape, hawk, recipient, susceptible, deception, chassis, anticipation, capitol, anticipate, conceive, 177 more
Today it means
noun The ability to hold, receive, or absorb.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kapjō / capacity