uncapitalizable
|un-cap-i-ta-li-za-ble|
🇺🇸
/ˌʌnkæpɪtəˈlaɪzəbəl/
🇬🇧
/ˌʌnkæpɪtəˈlaɪzəb(ə)l/
cannot be made capital
Etymology
'uncapitalizable' originates from English, specifically formed from the prefix 'un-' (meaning 'not') + 'capitalizable' (from 'capitalize' + '-able'), where 'capitalize' ultimately relates to Latin 'caput' meaning 'head'.
'capitalize' developed from Medieval Latin/Old French forms based on Latin 'capitālis' (from 'caput' 'head'); the English verb 'capitalize' (to make capital/uppercase or to provide capital) arose in the 17th century and later produced the adjective 'capitalizable' and the negated form 'uncapitalizable'.
Originally related to 'head' or 'principal' ('caput'), the sense shifted to 'make chief or convert to capital/uppercase' (modern 'capitalize'); 'uncapitalizable' therefore now means 'not able to be made capital' either typographically or (rarely) financially.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
the quality or state of being uncapitalizable; inability to be capitalized.
The uncapitalizability of those characters caused formatting problems.
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Adjective 1
not able to be written with or converted to a capital (uppercase) letter.
The legacy system treated certain file names as uncapitalizable, always displaying them in lower case.
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Adjective 2
not able to be converted into capital or used as capital in a financial/accounting sense (rare).
Some small expenses are effectively uncapitalizable under the company's accounting policy.
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Adverb 1
in a manner that cannot be capitalized.
Because the system enforces strict naming rules, the string was handled uncapitalizably.
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Last updated: 2025/11/06 19:07