Capacity Definition

capacity

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from French capacité, from Latin capacitas, from capax (“able to hold much”), from capere (“to hold, contain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈpæsɪti/, SAMPA: /k@"p{sIti/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

capacity (plural capacities)

1. The ability to hold, receive or absorb
2. A measure of such ability; volume
3. The maximum amount that can be held

   It was hauling a capacity load.

   The orchestra played to a capacity crowd.

4. Capability; the ability to perform some task
5. The maximum that can be produced.
6. Mental ability; the power to learn
7. A faculty; the potential for growth and development
8. A role; the position in which one functions
9. Legal authority (to make an arrest for example)
10. Electrical capacitance.
11. (operations) The maximum that can be produced on a machine or in a facility or group.

    Its capacity rating was 150 tons per hour, but its actual maximum capacity was 200 tons per hour.

Synonyms

• throughput
• See also Wikisaurus:skill

Derived terms

• capacitance
• capacitation
• capacitor

Adjective

capacity

1. (Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Filling the allotted space.

   There will be a capacity crowd at Busch stadium for the sixth game.

Related terms

• capacious

External links

• capacity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• capacity in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• capacity at OneLook Dictionary Search

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