capitalizar

Forms

capitalizar (first-person singular present capitalizo, first-person singular preterite capitalicé, past participle capitalizado)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish capital + -izar.^[1][2][3] The noun is from Latin capitālis (“of the head; chief”), a derivative of caput (“head”).^[2][4]

The figurative sense “to turn to one's own advantage” is, according to the Tesoro lexicográfico of Puerto Rico, adapted from the English verb capitalize.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in Juan Romero Alpuente's speeches in the Cortes (1820–1821), on officials who would be paid en el caso de no capitalizar “if they did not capitalise”, that is, convert a salary or pension into a capital sum.^[6] Corominas dates the word 1832.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Academy's dictionary of 1843 defines two senses: to turn the amount of a rent, salary or annual pension into a capital sum, whose payment redeems it, and, in commerce, to add the interest already earned to the capital, so that the larger sum earns more.^[7] Domínguez (1846) adds “to convert a debt into another kind of debt”.^[8] In 1899 the Academy shortened the first sense to “to fix the capital that a given interest, salary or rent represents”.^[9]

The figurative use “to profit from a fact or situation, even one brought about by others” is found in Mexico in 1945, in a passage about turning things into political interest.^[10] It entered the Academy's dictionary in 1989.^[5] The DLE now lists three economic senses before the figurative one.^[11]

Timeline

• 1820–1821 – the first record, in Romero Alpuente's speeches in the Cortes.^[6]
• 1832 – Corominas's date for the verb.^[3]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary has it, with the senses “turn a rent into capital” and “add interest to capital”.^[7]
• 1856 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[10]
• 1861 – the Spanish mortgage law speaks of rents capitalizadas al interés legal.^[6]
• 1945 – a Mexican text uses it in the sense “to exploit politically”.^[10]
• 1989 – the Academy's dictionary adds the figurative sense.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, economics) To provide a company with capital.^[11]
2. (transitive, economics) To convert something into capital; to add the interest earned to the capital, so that later interest is reckoned on the sum (interés compuesto).^[11][12][1]
3. (transitive, economics) To work out the value of an investment (inversión) from the income it will yield.^[11]
4. (transitive) To capitalize on: to turn an action or situation, even someone else's, to one's own advantage: La oposición capitalizó el descontento de los agricultores.^[11][13]

Word family

• capitalización
• capitalizable

Related words

• capitalista
• capitalismo
• Latin caput

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 834
3. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. capital
4. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. capital
5. ^ a b c Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. capitalizar
6. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. capitalizar
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 139
8. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 334
9. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 191
10. ^ a b c Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. capitalizar
11. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. capitalizar
12. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. capitalizar
13. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. capitalizar