capacity
English
Etymology
From Middle English, from French capacité, from Latin capacitas, from capax (“able to hold much”), from capere (“to hold, contain”).
Pronunciation
Noun
capacity (plural capacities)
- The ability to hold, receive or absorb
- A measure of such ability; volume
- The maximum amount that can be held
- It was hauling a capacity load.
- The orchestra played to a capacity crowd.
- Capability; the ability to perform some task
- The maximum that can be produced.
- Mental ability; the power to learn
- A faculty; the potential for growth and development
- A role; the position in which one functions
- Legal authority (to make an arrest for example)
- Electrical capacitance.
- (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
Translations
the ability to hold, receive or absorb
|
capability; the ability to perform some task
the maximum that can be produced
the position in which one functions
|
electrical capacitance
legal authority
Adjective
capacity
- Filling the allotted space.
- There will be a capacity crowd at Busch stadium for the sixth game.
- 2012, August 1. Owen Gibson in Guardian Unlimited, London 2012: rowers Glover and Stanning win Team GB's first gold medal
- At an overcast Eton Dorney, roared on by a capacity crowd including Prince Harry and Prince William, the volume rose as they entered the final stages.
Related terms
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