capitalisable
|cap-i-tal-i-sa-ble|
🇺🇸
/ˈkæpɪtələˌzaɪbəl/
🇬🇧
/ˈkæpɪt(ə)ləˌzaɪbəl/
(capitalise)
able to be made capital
Etymology
'capitalisable' originates from English formation: from 'capital' + the verb-forming suffix '-ise' (from Greek/Latin via French) and the adjective-forming suffix '-able' (from Old French/Latin), meaning 'able to be made capital.'
'capital' comes from Old French 'capital' and Latin 'caput' meaning 'head'; the verb 'capitalise' (British spelling) was formed in modern English by adding '-ise'/'-ize' to 'capital' (later influenced by verb-forming suffixes), and adding '-able' produced 'capitalisable'.
Initially, 'capital' referred to 'head' or main/top; over time it came to mean 'principal wealth or resources' and 'uppercase letter'; 'capitalise' and thus 'capitalisable' inherited these senses and now cover both financial and orthographic meanings.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
able to be written or presented in capital (uppercase) letters; capable of having an initial letter turned into a capital.
The filename is not capitalisable on this system, so all letters remain lowercase.
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Adjective 2
in accounting or finance: able to be treated as capital expenditure or added to the capital value (i.e., eligible to be capitalised in the accounts).
Under the new policy certain development costs are capitalisable rather than expensed immediately.
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Adjective 3
able to be used to generate capital or be converted into capital value (broader business/legal sense).
Some intangible assets are only capitalisable when specific criteria are met.
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Last updated: 2025/11/06 18:56