adj · noun · 21 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/kəˈpæsɪti/
British, Southern, Standard:/kəˈpasɪtɪj/
Scotland:/kəˈpasɪte/
Scotland:/-tɪ/
Scotland:/-ti/
Australian, Canada, General-American:/kəˈpæsɪti/
Australian, Canada, General-American:[kəˈpæsɪɾi]
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -æsɪti
CMU ARPABET:K AH0 P AE1 S AH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
CMU ARPABET 2:K AH0 P AE1 S IH0 T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Filling the allotted space.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
The ability to hold, receive, or absorb.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A measure of such ability; volume.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A measure of such ability; volume.
The maximum amount that can be held.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
It was hauling a capacity load.
The orchestra played to a capacity crowd.
A factory operating at less than full capacity.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
Capability; the ability to perform some task.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
the susceptibility of something to a particular treatment
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the capability of a metal to be fused
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: capability
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: susceptibility, susceptibleness
Narrower terms: resistance, activity
History
Etymology
Etymology tree substratebor.? Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō Proto-Indo-European *-eh2-k-s 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”).
Across languages
Translations
163 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
kapacitet
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Belarusian:
зда́тнасць
(zdátnascʹ)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Belarusian:
здо́льнасць
(zdólʹnascʹ)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Bengali:
আওকাত
(aōkat)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Bhojpuri:
क्षमता
(kṣamətā)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Bulgarian:
спосо́бност
(sposóbnost)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Catalan:
capacitat
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Dutch:
capaciteit
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Finnish:
kyky
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Finnish:
kapasiteetti
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Finnish:
suorituskyky
— capability; the ability to perform some task
French:
capacité
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Galician:
capacidade
— capability; the ability to perform some task
German:
Fähigkeit
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Greek:
ικανότητα
(ikanótita)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Hebrew:
יכולת
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Hebrew:
כושר
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Hindi:
क्षमता
(kṣamtā)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Hindi:
शक्ति
(śakti)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Hindi:
सामर्थ्य
(sāmarthya)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Italian:
capacità
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Korean:
역량
(yeongnyang)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Korean:
능력
(neungnyeok)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Latin:
facultās
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Māori:
āheitanga
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Mongolian:
чадвар
(čadvar)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Norwegian Bokmål:
kapasitet
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kapasitet
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Occitan:
capacitat
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Polish:
zdolność
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Portuguese:
capacidade
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Romanian:
capacitate
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Russian:
спосо́бность
(sposóbnostʹ)
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Serbo-Croatian:
sposobnost
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Spanish:
capacidad
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Swedish:
kapacitet
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Turkish:
kabiliyet
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Turkish:
yetenek
— capability; the ability to perform some task
Ukrainian:
зда́тність
(zdátnistʹ)
— capability; the ability to perform some task