CAPACITY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Capacity

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/kəpˈæsəti/ /kəpˈæsɪti/ Listen

noun

Capacity n. (pl. capacities)

1.

The power of receiving or containing; extent of room or space; passive power; used in reference to physical things. "Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together." "The capacity of the exhausted cylinder."

2.

The power of receiving and holding ideas, knowledge, etc.; the comprehensiveness of the mind; the receptive faculty; capability of understanding or feeling. "Capacity is now properly limited to these (the mere passive operations of the mind); its primary signification, which is literally room for, as well as its employment, favors this; although it can not be denied that there are examples of its usage in an active sense."

3.

Ability; power pertaining to, or resulting from, the possession of strength, wealth, or talent; possibility of being or of doing. "The capacity of blessing the people." "A cause with such capacities endued."

4.

Outward condition or circumstances; occupation; profession; character; position; as, to work in the capacity of a mason or a carpenter.

5.

(Law) Legal or moral qualification, as of age, residence, character, etc., necessary for certain purposes, as for holding office, for marrying, for making contracts, wills, etc.; legal power or right; competency.

Capacity for heat, the power of absorbing heat. Substances differ in the amount of heat requisite to raise them a given number of thermometric degrees, and this difference is the measure of, or depends upon, what is called their capacity for heat. See Specific heat, under Heat.

Synonyms: Ability; faculty; talent; capability; skill; efficiency; cleverness. See Ability.

See images of 'Capacity'

Etymology of 'Capacity'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Capacity" Quotes from Famous Books

... the convention was opened with prayer by the Rev. Marion H. Shutter.[6] The audience was far beyond the seating capacity of the large church and in presenting the official speakers Mrs. Catt said: "This is a great contrast to the early days when we did not use to be welcomed because we were not welcome. Now we are welcomed wherever we go but not often, as here, by the representative ...

— The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume V • Ida Husted Harper

... Dietrich Hohenfriedberg of Plassenburg," said the man. "He, as your well-born Wisdom remembers, was then the only Prince in these parts—a good man, and born of the noblest, though not of the capacity of his present Highness ...

— Red Axe • Samuel Rutherford Crockett

... an important change took place in the British cabinet. The Duke of Grafton suddenly resigned, and the reins of government passed into the hands of Lord North. He was a man of limited capacity, but a favorite of the king, and subservient to his narrow colonial policy. His administration, so eventful to America, commenced with an error. In the month of March, an act was passed, revoking all the duties laid in 1767, excepting that on tea. ...

— The Life of George Washington, Volume I • Washington Irving

... "And what could we reply to the naturalist if, before he could agree to the assumption of a World-soul he required that we should show him—bedded in neuroglia and nourished by warm arterial blood—anywhere in the world a convolution of ganglionic centres co-extensive with the psychic capacity ...

— Freedom in Science and Teaching. - from the German of Ernst Haeckel • Ernst Haeckel

... shall; but we must remember the gnat and the camel and try to be consistent. A single portiere, especially if it be of the rag-carpet style, has a greater dust-collecting capacity than a whole houseful of wooden floors, ceilings and wainscots, even when they are moulded and ornamentally wrought. Surely they will not be troublesome if they are plain and simple, and only think how much more interesting than flat square walls and ceilings, which we feel compelled ...

— The House that Jill Built - after Jack's had proved a failure • E. C. Gardner

Copyright © 2024 Free-Translator.com