Definition:
The form of an alphabetical letter (such as A, B, C) used to begin a sentence or proper noun; an uppercase letter, in contrast to lower case. Verb: capitalize.
In classical Greek and Latin writing, only capital letters (also called majuscules) were used.
See also:
- Guidelines for Using Capital Letters
- Alphabet
- Bicapitalization
- Capitalization
- From A to Z: Quick Facts About the Alphabet
- Sentence Case
- Title Case
- Which Words in a Title Should Be Capitalized?
Examples and Observations:
- "By the sixth and seventh centuries the various letter forms we now use had been invented . . .. From the ninth century on all writing in the Latin alphabet, in whatever style or hand, used capital and small-letter pairs as we do now."
(Thomas A. Sebeok, Current Trends in Linguistics, 1974) - "A capital is always used for the first letter of a sentence. It is a universal rule. But the same cannot be said for the capitalization of names or 'proper' nouns. Style varies wildly between--and even within--publications such as national newspapers and magazines. Apply commonsense rules. All names of people and places--Peter Cook, Paraguay, Piccadilly Circus--take capitals. All titles of specific works of art--Citizen Kane, the Mona Lisa, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Anna Karenina--take a capital. Languages and nationalities--English, the French--take capitals. Institutions--the Houses of Parliament, the White House, the Anglican Church--take capitals. Days, months and formally defined periods of history--Monday, February, the Middle Ages--take capitals. . . ."
"Words deriving from proper names usually take a capital--as Christian from Christ and Marxist from Marx. But some such words, known as eponyms, have come into everyday use and no longer take a capital."
(Ned Halley, Dictionary of Modern English Grammar. Wordsworth, 2005) - "He believed in a door. He must find that door. The door was the way to . . . to . . .
"The Door was The Way.
"Good.
"Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to."
(Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Pocket Books, 1987) - Carol Fisher: This is Scott ffolliott. Newspaperman, same as you. London correspondent. Mr. Haverstock, Mr. ffolliott.
Scott ffolliott: With a double "f."
Johnny Jones: How do you do?
Scott ffolliott: How do you do?
Johnny Jones: I don't get the double "f."
Scott ffolliott: They're at the beginning, old boy. Both small "f"s.
Johnny Jones: They can't be at the beginning.
Scott ffolliott: One of my ancestors had his head chopped off by Henry VIII, and his wife dropped the capital letter to commemorate the occasion. There it is.
Johnny Jones: How do you say it, like a stutter?
Scott ffolliott: No, just straight "fuh."
(Laraine Day, George Sanders, and Joel McCrea in Foreign Correspondent, 1940) - "If in doubt use lower case unless it looks absurd."
(The Economist Style Guide. Profile Books, 2005)
Also Known As: majuscule, uppercase, upper-case, block letter, caps
