English Explanatory Dictionary

capitalism

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A socio-economic system based on private ownership of resources, and capital and their exploitation for profit.
  2. An economic system based on private control of the means of production and the exploitation of labour by capital.
  3. An economic system based on private property and the abstraction of resources into the form of privately owned capital, with economic decisions made largely through the operation of a market unregulated by the state.

Pronunciation

/ˈkapɪt(ə)lɪz(ə)m/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-capitalism.wav /kəˈpɪt(ə)lɪz(ə)m/ kăpʹĭ-tl-ĭz'm /ˈkæpɪ̈tl̩ˌɪzm̩/

Word forms

capitalism capitalisms

Etymology

Borrowed from French capitalisme (“the condition of one who is rich”); equivalent to capital + -ism. Derived from Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-. First used in English by novelist William Thackeray in The Newcomes [1854-1855].

Related words

capital capitalist capitalistic capitalistically authoritarianism bolshevism Bushism Clintonism collectivism Communism conservatism fascism Gorbachevism individualism Khrushchevism Leninism liberalism Maoism Marxism Marxism-Leninism progressivism Reaganism Rooseveltism socialism Stalinism Thatcherism Titoism totalitarianism Trotskyism Trudeauism Trumpism

Derived words

anarchist capitalism anarcho-capitalism anticapitalism anti-capitalism biocapitalism casino capitalism countercapitalism crapitalism crony capitalism cybercapitalism ecocapitalism eco-capitalism guided capitalism handicapitalism homocapitalism hypercapitalism hyper-capitalism late capitalism late stage capitalism late-stage capitalism neocapitalism neo-capitalism noncapitalism paleocapitalism petrocapitalism platform capitalism postcapitalism precapitalism protocapitalism rainbow capitalism savage capitalism semicapitalism stakeholder capitalism state capitalism stateless capitalism supercapitalism surveillance capitalism technocapitalism turbocapitalism turbo-capitalism venture capitalism vulture capitalism welfare capitalism

Translations

Afrikaans: kapitalisme Greek: κεφαλαιοκρατία Hindi: पूंजीवाद Manx: bun-argidys Manx: capitlaghys Marathi: भांडवलशाही Scottish Gaelic: calpachas
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