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View synonyms for capacity

capacity

[ kuh-pas-i-tee ]

noun

, plural ca·pac·i·ties.
  1. the ability to receive or contain:

    This hotel has a large capacity.

  2. the maximum amount or number that can be received or contained; cubic contents; volume:

    The inn is filled to capacity.

    The gasoline tank has a capacity of 20 gallons.

    Synonyms: amplitude

  3. power of receiving impressions, knowledge, etc.; mental ability:

    the capacity to learn calculus.

    Synonyms: talent, endowment

  4. actual or potential ability to perform, yield, or withstand:

    He has a capacity for hard work.

    The capacity of the oil well was 150 barrels a day.

    She has the capacity to go two days without sleep.

    Synonyms: capability, competence, adequacy, aptitude

  5. quality or state of being susceptible to a given treatment or action:

    Steel has a high capacity to withstand pressure.

  6. position; function; role:

    He served in the capacity of legal adviser.

  7. legal qualification.
  8. Electricity.
    1. maximum possible output.


adjective

  1. reaching maximum capacity:

    a capacity audience;

    a capacity crowd.

capacity

/ kəˈpæsɪtɪ /

noun

  1. the ability or power to contain, absorb, or hold
  2. the amount that can be contained; volume

    a capacity of six gallons

    1. the maximum amount something can contain or absorb (esp in the phrase filled to capacity )
    2. ( as modifier )

      a capacity crowd

  3. the ability to understand or learn; aptitude; capability

    he has a great capacity for Greek

  4. the ability to do or produce (often in the phrase at capacity )

    the factory's output was not at capacity

  5. a specified position or function

    he was employed in the capacity of manager

  6. a measure of the electrical output of a piece of apparatus such as a motor, generator, or accumulator
  7. electronics a former name for capacitance
  8. computing
    1. the number of words or characters that can be stored in a particular storage device
    2. the range of numbers that can be processed in a register
  9. the bit rate that a communication channel or other system can carry
  10. legal competence

    the capacity to make a will

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of capacity1

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English capacite, capasite, from Middle French, from Latin capācitāt-, stem of capācitās “ability, understanding,” equivalent to capāci- (stem of capāx “confident, fit, roomy,” equivalent to cap(ere) “to take, seize” + -āx, adjective suffix) + -tās -ty 2
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Word History and Origins

Origin of capacity1

C15: from Old French capacite, from Latin capācitās, from capāx spacious, from capere to take
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Example Sentences

However, their capacity decreases with each charging cycle due to structural and chemical changes.

While these symptoms do not constitute a disorder diagnosed as psychosis, they can still be disruptive, distressing or detrimental to functional capacity.

A dog learns to sit on command, a person hears and eventually tunes out the hum of a washing machine while reading … The capacity to learn and adapt is central to evolution and, indeed, survival.

But EPA’s funding remained essentially flat, and inflation continued to grind down its purchasing power and capacity.

Despite increasing capacity from 120 to nearly 200 students over the last decade, it is still over-subscribed.

From BBC

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