capitol
noun
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Capital and Capitol: Which One to Use Where
What a pair these are: they sound identical and look nearly identical and both have meanings that relate to government. Mastering their use, however, is simple.
The key is this: capitol, the one with an "o," is very limited in use. It appears in the term Capitol Hill, and is used to refer to one very particular and famous building, to some other similar buildings, and, occasionally, to a group of buildings that includes those similar buildings. For all other meanings, the word you want is capital.
This means that in a state's capital city is a building or group of buildings properly referred to with the word capitol, with an "o." In this use capitol is synonymous with statehouse: both refer to the building or group of buildings where a state legislature meets. The phrase capital city utilizes capital because it refers to a city, not to a building or group of buildings.
Capitol with a capital "C" refers to the particular building in Washington, D.C. where the U.S. Congress meets. It often appears before other nouns in phrases like the Capitol building and Capitol police, and is very frequently used in the term Capitol Hill, which refers both to the legislative branch of the United States government as well as to the location of the Capitol building. The Capitol, like many state capitol buildings, has a rounded dome that is somewhat reminiscent of the top of an "o," which may help some remember the "o" spelling. Note that the word capital as used to describe an uppercase letter, like in the phrase capital "C", utilizes capital.
The word capital has three distinct homographs, two for noun uses and one for adjective uses. Readers should consult those entries for the various meanings of capital, but can be assured that they all end in al, rather than ol.
Examples of capitol in a Sentence
Journal Sentinel, 8 Apr. 2024
The Confederate Memorial Monument—an eighty-eight-foot column outside the capitol, featuring a triumphant goddess—dates from 1898.
—Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
The trend in warmer temperatures helps prompt the cherry trees in the nation's capitol and many other flowering trees to bloom earlier, said Theresa Crimmins, director of the USA National Phenology Network, based at the University of Arizona.
—Jennifer Borresen, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2024
Members of the public are not allowed to carry firearms on the capitol complex.
—Brittany Carloni, The Indianapolis Star, 13 Mar. 2024
Maryland’s iconic state capitol in Annapolis went into lockdown about 5 p.m. Thursday amid reports of a security threat.
—Erin Cox, Washington Post, 29 Feb. 2024
But 2020 was also marked by violence, or the threat of it, at state capitols and Covid lockdown protests, a trend experts fear will continue.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 18 Jan. 2024
At a Trump rally, even the rioters who attacked the capitol on Jan. 6 are recast as victims of anti-Trump forces.
—Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024
Prior to the most recent shutdown, Apple and Google removed Parler from their app stores and Amazon stopped hosting the site following the January 6 riot at the Capitol, when Parler users posted hundreds of videos of rioters invading the capitol.
—Makena Kelly, WIRED, 21 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'capitol.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Capitol.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capitol. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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capitol
noun
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