- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Derivation
- First attested
- 1833
- Ultimate origin
- English (capital)
Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /ˈkæp.ɪ.təl.ɪ.zəm/, US /ˈkæp.ə.t̬əl.ɪ.zəm/[1]
Etymology
It is formed from capital, wealth, and -ism.[2][3][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
The condition of having capital: 1854 in Etymonline and the OED;[2][5] Merriam-Webster gives 1833.[3]
Semantic evolution
The meaning “a political and economic system that favours capitalists” is recorded from 1872, first used disparagingly by socialists.[2] The concentration of capital in a few hands, or the power of large capital, is from 1877.[2] J. L. Garvin wrote in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1929) that there is no satisfactory definition of the term, though nothing is more evident than the thing.[2]
Timeline
- 1833 – capitalism.[3]
- 1854 – the possession of capital.[2][5]
- 1872 – the economic system.[2]
- 1877 – the power of large capital.[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- An economic system in which trade, industry and the means of production are owned privately and run for profit.
Word family
- anticapitalism
- procapitalism
- state capitalism
Related words
- capital
- capitalist
- capitalistic
- socialism
- communism
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry
“Capitalism.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/capitalism. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.
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