What does capitalised mean?
"Capitalised" is the past tense and past participle of the verb "to capitalize", carrying two principal senses: one typographic, one financial. In everyday writing, it means rendering a letter or word in uppercase — as when a title is capitalised or the first word of a sentence is capitalised. In accounting and finance, it means recording an expenditure as a long-term asset rather than deducting it immediately as an expense, a practice known as capitalising costs. A third, related sense describes supplying a business with capital. The word derives ultimately from the Latin "capitalis", meaning "of the head" (from "caput"), which also gives us "cattle", "chattel", and "chapter" — all things counted by heads. It is spelled with an "-ise" ending in British English and "-ize" in American English, though both spellings are widely understood across varieties.
verbPast tense and past participle of "capitalize": to write or print a word or letter in capital letters, or (in finance) to convert an asset or expenditure into capital, treating it as a capital asset on a balance sheet.
- To write or print a letter or word in uppercase form (e.g. 'The name was capitalised').
- (Finance) To record an expenditure as a capital asset rather than expensing it immediately.
- (Finance) To provide a company with capital.
"She capitalised every heading in the report for emphasis."
"He capitalised the first word of every sentence in his essay."
"The company capitalised £2 million in development costs on its balance sheet."
Every time you write a word in CAPITALS, you're echoing the Latin 'caput' — head — because Roman inscriptions began each sentence with a 'head' letter.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of capitalised
"Capitalised" comes from the verb "capitalize", formed from the noun "capital", borrowed into English via French from Latin "capitalis" ("of the head"), itself from "caput" ("head"). The typographic sense arose because early printed texts marked important words with large letters placed at their heads. The financial sense developed later, reflecting the idea of converting something into monetary "capital". Related words sharing the same root include "cattle" and "chattel" (property measured in head-count) and "chapter" (a division headed by a chapter heading).
Related word forms
How capitalised is actually used
"Capitalised" is chiefly the British spelling; American English uses "capitalized". In finance contexts it is formal register; in typography contexts it is neutral. The spelling difference follows the general -ise/-ize split between British and US conventions.
Easily confused with capitalised
"Capitalisation" is the noun referring to the act of using capitals or the total financial value of a company, while "capitalised" is the verb form describing that action having been done.