capitol

Meanings

1. Any building or complex of buildings in which a legislature meets.
2. Any citadel or complex of buildings similar to the Roman Capitol, particularly Italian and Roman citadels including temples to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.
3. Alternative form of capitoul (“the former chief magistrates of Toulouse, France”).

1. Any particular capitol
2. The citadel and temples on the Capitoline Hill in Ancient Rome.
3. The town hall of Toulouse, France.
4. The building in Washington, D.C., in which both houses of the Congress of the United States meet.
5. The chief building in any state capital in which the state legislature meets.

Etymology

From Middle English Capitolie, via Anglo-Norman capitolie, Old French capitoile, from Latin Capitōlium (“Capitoline Hill, its temples; any similar citadel”), from the oblique stem of caput (“head”) + -ō (noun-forming suffix) or -ōlus (“-ole”, diminutive suffix) + -ium (toponym-forming suffix). Compare Latin capitō and capitulum. As a French magistrate, via French capitoul, from Capitole, the town hall of Toulouse. Doublet of Capitolium and capitoul.