Etymology
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capacity (n.)

early 15c., "ability to contain; size, extent;" also "ability" in a legal, moral, or intellectual sense, from Old French capacité "ability to hold" (15c.), from Latin capacitatem (nominative capacitas) "breadth, capacity, capability of holding much," noun of state from capax (genitive capacis) "able to hold much," from capere "to take" (from PIE root *kap- "to grasp").

Sense of "power to store electricity" is from 1777; industrial sense of "ability to produce" is from 1931. Meaning "power of containing a certain quantity" is from 1885, hence "largest audience a place can hold" (1908).

Entries linking to capacity

*kap- 

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to grasp."

It forms all or part of: accept; anticipate; anticipation; behave; behoof; behoove; cable; cacciatore; caitiff; capable; capacious; capacity; capias; capiche; capstan; caption; captious; captivate; captive; captor; capture; case (n.2) "receptacle;" catch; catchpoll; cater; chase (n.1) "a hunt;" chase (v.) "to run after, hunt;" chasse; chasseur; conceive; cop (v.) "to seize, catch;" copper (n.2) "policeman;" deceive; emancipate; except; forceps; gaffe; haft; have; hawk (n.); heave; heavy; heft; incapacity; inception; incipient; intercept; intussusception; manciple; municipal; occupy; participation; perceive; precept; prince; purchase; receive; recipe; recover; recuperate; sashay; susceptible.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit kapati "two handfuls;" Greek kaptein "to swallow, gulp down," kope "oar, handle;" Latin capax "able to hold much, broad," capistrum "halter," capere "to grasp, lay hold; be large enough for; comprehend;" Lettish kampiu "seize;" Old Irish cacht "servant-girl," literally "captive;" Welsh caeth "captive, slave;" Gothic haban "have, hold;" Old English hæft "handle," habban "to have, hold."

capacitance (n.)
"ability to store an electric charge," 1893, from capacity + -ance.

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Definitions of capacity

capacity (n.)
capability to perform or produce;
a great capacity for growth
limited runway capacity
among his gifts is his capacity for true altruism
capacity (n.)
the susceptibility of something to a particular treatment;
Synonyms: capability
capacity (n.)
the amount that can be contained;
the gas tank has a capacity of 12 gallons
Synonyms: content
capacity (n.)
the maximum production possible;
the plant is working at 80 per cent capacity
capacity (n.)
a specified function;
he was employed in the capacity of director
he should be retained in his present capacity at a higher salary
capacity (n.)
(computer science) the amount of information (in bytes) that can be stored on a disk drive;
the capacity of a hard disk drive is usually expressed in megabytes
capacity (n.)
an electrical phenomenon whereby an electric charge is stored;
Synonyms: capacitance / electrical capacity
capacity (n.)
the power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of your behavior;
Synonyms: mental ability
capacity (n.)
tolerance for alcohol;
he had drunk beyond his capacity
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near capacity

capable

capacious

capacitance

capacitate

capacitor

capacity

cap-a-pie

caparison

cape

Cape Cod

capeesh

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