Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A building or complex of buildings in which a state legislature meets.
  • noun The building in Washington, DC, where the Congress of the United States meets.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In Rome, and in Roman cities and colonies, the precinct and temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, the protector of the city.
  • noun In the United States, the edifice occupied by Congress at Washington; also, in the separate States, the state-house, or house in which the legislature holds its sessions.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • The temple of Jupiter, at Rome, on the Mona Capitolinus, where the Senate met.
  • The edifice at Washington occupied by the Congress of the United States; also, the building in which the legislature of a State holds its sessions; a statehouse.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Temple of Jupiter in Rome.
  • noun The building in Washington, D.C., where the Congress of the United States meets.
  • noun A building or complex of buildings in which any legislature meets.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the government building in Washington where the United States Senate and the House of Representatives meet
  • noun a building occupied by a state legislature

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English Capitol, Jupiter's temple in Rome, from Old French capitole, from Latin Capitōlium, after Capitōlīnus, Capitoline, the hill on which Jupiter's temple stood; perhaps akin to caput, capit-, head; see capital.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin capitōlium

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Examples

Comments

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  • Capitol (think of the shape of a dome) is a building, and it's capitalized if it's specific. Capital is a city, money or uppercase letter.

    September 12, 2011

  • Cf. statehouse.

    September 12, 2011