capacious 
The fancy which he [Edmund BurkeJ hail in common 
with all mankind, and very probably in no eminent de- 
gree, in him was urged into unusual activity under the 
necessities of his capacious understanding. 
De Qnincey, Khetoric. 
3f. Disposed to receive or take comprehensive 
views (of). 
For I write not to such translators, but to men capacious 
of the soul and genius of their authors, without which all 
their labour will be of no use but to disgrace themselves, 
and injure the author that falls into their slaughter-house! 
Dryden, Life of Lucian. 
capaciously (ka-pa'shus-li), adr. In a capa- 
cious manner or degree. 
capaciousness (ka-pa'shus-nes), H. The state 
or quality of being capacious. () Wideness; large- 
ness; extensiveness. (i) Comprehensiveness; power of 
taking a wide survey: applied to the mind. 
capacitate (ka-pas'i-tat), t>. t. ; pret. and pp. 
capacitated, ppr. capacitating. [< eajiaciti/ + 
-ate 2 . Cf. the equiv. It. capaciture, from an as- 
sumed L. *capacitare.] 1. To make capable ; 
enable. 
liy this instruction we may be capacitated to observe 
these errors. Dryden. 
Specifically 2. To furnish with legal powers ; 
qualify: as, to capacitate one for an office. 
capacitation (ka-pas-i-ta'shon), n. [< capaci- 
tate : see -ation.~\ The act of making capable. 
[Rare.] 
capacity (ka-pas'i-ti), n. ; pi. capacities (-tiz). 
[< F. capadte = Pr. capacitat = Sp. capaci- 
dad = Pg. capacidade = It. capacita, < L. cu- 
pacita(t-)s, < eapax (capac-), able to contain: 
see capacious.] 1. The power of receiving 
or containing ; specifically, the power of con- 
taining a certain quantity exactly ; cubic con- 
tents. 
Our globe is Bailing on through space, like some huge 
ocean steamer, whose capacity for coal is strictly limited. 
li. D. Hitchcock, Address 48th Anniv. Un. Theol. Sem. 
2. Receptivity; susceptibility to being pas- 
sively affected in any way ; power of receiving 
impressions, or of being acted upon. 
Faculty ... is properly limited to active power, and, 
therefore, is abusively applied to the mere passive affec- 
tions of mind. Capacity, on the other hand, is more prop- 
erly limited to these. Its primary signification, which is 
literally room for, as well as its employment, favors this ; 
although it cannot be denied that there are examples of its 
usage in an active sense. Leibnitz, as far as I know, was 
the first who limited its psychological application to the 
passivities of mind. . . . The active [power] may he called 
faculty, and perhaps the passive might be called capacity, 
or receptivity. 
Sir W. Hamilton, Metaphysics, Bowen's Abridgment, viii. 
Capacity signifies greater passiveness or receptivity than 
. . . [power or faculty). Hence it is more usually applied 
to that in the soul by which it does or can suffer, or to 
dormant and inert possibilities to be aroused to exertions 
of strength or skill, or to make striking advances through 
education and habit. A*. Porter, Human Intellect, 36. 
3. Active power; ability: as, mental capacity; 
the capacity of a substance to resist pressure. 
Hate, and fear, and remorse, and crime have in them the 
capacity of stirring in us a horror of moral repugnance 
such as pagan art had no means of awakening. J. Caird. 
Man's capacities have never been measured. 
Thoreau, Walden, p. 12. 
Powhatan gane him Namontack his trustie servant, and 
one of a shrewd, subtill capacitie. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 167. 
4. Ability in a moral or legal sense ; legal quali- 
fication ; legal power or right : as, a man or a 
corporation may have a capacity to give or re- 
ceive and hold estate; A was present at the 
meeting in his capacity of director (that is, in 
virtue of his legal qualification as a director). 
Ouer that, that the same Master and Wardeyns, and 
their successours, shuld be perpctuall and hane capadte. 
English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 310. 
He had been restored to his capacity of governing by 
renouncing the errors of Popery. Brougham. 
Hence 5. Character; profession ; occupation ; 
function. 
You desire my thoughts as a friend, and not as a mem- 
ber of parliament ; they are the same in both capacities 
Stiri/t. 
6f. A license ; authorization. 
They gave the monks leave to depart, and most of them, 
they said, desired capacities or licenses to depart to be 
granted to them, though some desired to be assigned to 
other places of religion. 
R. W. Dixon, Hist. Church of Bug., v. 
Breathing capacity. Same as differential capacity. 
Capacity for heat, the amount of heat required to raise 
the temperature of any object one degree, being the pro- 
duct of its mass into its specific heat. Also sometimes 
used as a synonym of speci tic heat, when it is generally 
called the i 
802 
like the Leyden jar. The unit of capacity is the farad, 
or, practically, the microfarad. See /orat/. Differential 
capacity, extreme differential capacity, or vital 
capacity, the amount of air which can be expelled from 
the lungs by the greatest possible expiration after the 
greatest possible inspiration. It is usually about 214 cu- 
bic inches. Specific Inductive capacity, in elect., the 
ratio of capacity of an accumulator formed of the di- 
electric substance whose specific capacity is spoken of to 
the capacity of an accumulator of the same form and size 
filled with air. Standard measure of capacity, see 
measure. Thermal capacity of a body, in thermody- 
namics, the quantity of heat required to raise its tem- 
perature by one degree on the absolute thermodynamic 
scale. Sir W. Thomson, Encyc. Brit., XI. 576. Vital ca- 
pacity. Same as differential capacity. = Syn. 1. Uimen- 
sions. 3. Aptitude, Faculty (see genius), turn, forte, apt- 
ness; Ability, Capacity (see ability). 6. Office, sphere, 
post, function. 
capade (ka-pad'), . [Origin uncertain.] In 
hat-making, a bat. E. H. Knight. 
cap-a-pie (kap-U-pe'), adv. [Earlier also cap-a- 
pe, cap-a-pee, capapee, cape-a-pe ; < OF. de cap 
a pie, from head to foot (now de pied en cap, 
from foot to head) : cap, head (see cape^) ; pie, 
pied, < L. pes (ped-) = E. foot ; q. v.] From 
head to foot ; all over. Also written cap-a-pie. 
See cuts under armor. 
Arm'd at all points, exactly, cap-a-pe. 
Shale., Hamlet, i. 2. 
A yellow ointment, with which, after they [the Indians) 
have bathed, they anoint themselves capapee. 
Beverleij, Virginia, iii. [ 42. 
Far from being disheartened, however, he was seen, 
armed cap-a-pie, on horseback from dawn to evening. 
Prescott, Ferd. and Isa., i. 4. 
caparison (ka-par'i-son), n. [< OF. caparas- 
son, caperasson, F. caparafon, < Sp. caparmoii 
= Pg. caparazSo, a cover for a saddle, a cover 
for a coach, a kind of aug. of capa, a cloak, 
cover, < ML. capa, cappa, a cape : see cap 1 and 
cape 1 ,"] 1. A cloth or covering, more or less 
ornamented, laid over the saddle or furniture 
of a horse, especially of a sumpter-horse or 
horse of state. 
What cares he now for curb or pricking spur ? 
For rich caparisons or trapping gay? 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 286. 
Hence 2. Clothing, especially sumptuous 
clothing ; equipment ; outfit. 
My heart groans 
Beneath the gay caparison. 
Smollett, The Regicide, iii. 4. 
caparison (ka-par'i-son), t-. t. [< capaYison, n.] 
1. To cover with a caparison, as a horse. 2. 
To dress sumptuously ; adorn with rich dress. 
caparisoned (ka-par''i-sond), p. a. [Pp. of ca- 
e, wen s generay 
called the specific capacity for heat. Capacity of a 
conductor, in elect., the quantity of electricity required 
to raise its potential from zero to unity. The capacity 
of a sphere is proportional to its radius, and in the C. G. 
N. system is numerically equal to its radius expressed in 
centimeters. The capacity is increased by proximity to ;i 
charge of an opposite kind, as is shown by a condenser 
War-horse Caparisoned, from seal of Philip of Burgundy. 
parison, r.] 1. Covered with a caparison or 
decorated cloth, as a horse ; decked; adorned. 
The steeds, caparison'd with purple, stand 
With golden trappings, glorious to behold, Dryden. 
2. In her., harnessed: used of a horse when 
saddled and prepared for the field Caparisoned 
ancient, in her., covered with barding and housse. Ca- 
parisoned modern, in '"/.. having saddle, etc., like n 
modern cavalry charger. 
capcaset (kap'kas), n. A case for containing 
caps, collars, or other articles of apparel; a 
small traveling-case. In the seventeenth cen- 
tury it seems to have become a receptacle for 
papers, money, etc. 
A capcase for your linen and your plate. 
Fletcher (and another), Noble Gentleman, v. 1. 
Shut up ia a silver ozpeoM. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 602. 
cape 1 (kap), . [< ME. cape, < OF. cape, F. cape, 
also assibilated chape, = Pr. Sp. Pg. capa = 
It. cappa, a cloak, cape, < ML. capa, cappa, a 
cape, whence also by different channels E. cap 1 
and cope 1 , which are thus doublets of cape 1 : see 
cap 1 , cope 1 .'] 1. A circular covering for the 
shoulders and adjacent parts, either separate 
or attached to the top of a garment, as that 
of a gown or an overcoat. 2. A short circu- 
capellane 
lar garment hanging from the shoulders, worn 
for protection against the weather. 3. The 
coping of a wall. [North. Eng.] 4. pi. 
Ears of corn broken off in thrashing. [North. 
Eng.] 
cape 2 (kap), n. [< F. cap, a cape, headland, 
head of a ship, also lit. a head, < It. capo = Sp. 
Pg. cabo, a cape, headland, end, extremity, 
It. also lit. a head, < L. capitt, head: see captit, 
capital 1 , etc.] 1. A piece of land jutting into 
a sea or a lake beyond the adjoining coast-line. 
2. [cap.] A wine resembling sherry orcanary, 
from the Cape of Good Hope. cape ash. See 
n*M. Cape chestnut, jasmin, etc. See the nouns. 
cape 2 (kap), r. i. ; pret. and pp. caped, ppr. 
coping. [< cape" 2 , n., after the orig. F. cap, in 
sense of 'head of a ship'; of. F. mcttre le cap 
au nord (sud, etc.), bear north (south, etc.).] 
Xaut., to keep a course ; head or point: as, how 
does she capct 
cape 3 (ka'pe), n. [ML., 2d pers. sing. pres. 
impv. of L. capere, take: see capable.] In Eng- 
land, a judicial writ, now abolished, used in 
proceedings by the king or a feudal lord to re- 
cover land on the default of a tenant : called 
cape from its initial word. The cape magnum, or 
grand cape, was the writ for possession when the tenant 
failed to appear. The cape parmcni, or petit cape, was the 
shorter writ issued when the plaintiff prevailed after the 
tenant had appeared. 
cape 4 t, ' i. [ME. capen = MLG. LG. kapen = 
pHG. chapfen, MHG. kapfen, gaze, stare, gape : 
in form a diff. word from gape, in which in E. 
it is now absorbed : see gape.] To gaze; gape. 
This Nicholas sat aye as stille as stoon, 
And evere caped [var. ffapyd] upward into the eir. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 287. 
cape-a-pe+, adr. See cap-a-pii: 
cape-cloakt (kap'klok), n. A cloak with a cape, 
caped (kapt), a. [< cape 1 + -ed?.~\ Furnished 
with a cape or tippet. 
He [Lord Kilmarnock] wears a caped riding coat, and 
has not even removed his laced hat. 
A*, and Q., 6th ser., X. 422. 
capelH, caple 1 !, [ME., also capul, etc., = 
Icel. kapall, < Gael, capull = Ir. capull, capal, < 
L. caballus, a horse : see cabal^ and clieval.'] A 
horse. 
And gaf hym cables to liws cart. 
Piers Plomnan (C), xxii. 333. 
Bothe hey and cart and eek his caples thre. 
Chaucer, Friar's Tale, 1. 256. 
capel 2 , caple 2 (ka'pl), n. [Origin unknown.] 
In mining, a wall of a lode : so called by Cornish 
miners, and chiefly when the country closely ad- 
jacent to the lode itself has been more or less 
altered by those chemical agencies under the 
influence of which the latter was formed. This 
alteration usually shows itself in a silicincation and harden- 
ing of the rock. The capels are sometimes themselves so 
impregnated with metalliferous particles as to be worth 
working; in such cases they are usually recognized as 
forming a part of the lode. If barren of ore, they are 
considered as belonging to the country. At the Mary Ann 
wheal (or mine) in Cornwall, and perhaps in other mines, 
the capel is called the cab ; it is there described as con- 
sisting of chalcedonic quartz, and is considered as being 
a part of the lode, although barren of ore. The word is 
rarely heard outside of Cornwall. In the United States 
caning takes its place to some extent. 
capel 3 (ka'pl), n. [Cf. cap 1 , n., 2, and capling.] 
The horn joint which connects the two parts 
of a flail. [Prov. Eng.] 
capelan (kap'e-lan), n. 1. A fish of the family 
Gadidce, Gadvs minuttu, the poor. 2. Same as 
caplin 2 . 
capelin (kap'e-lin), n. Same as capliifi. 
capeline, capelline (kap'e-lin), n. [< F. cape- 
line = Sp. Pg. capellina = It. cappellina, < ME. 
capellina, capelina, cappiliiia, 
dim. of capella, itself a dim. 
of capa, cappa, a cap, hood: 
see cap 1 , cape 1 .] A small 
skull-cap of iron worn by light- 
armed men, such as archers, 
in the middle ages. Also 
written capprliiie, chapcliiie. 
Capella (ka-pel'a), n. [L., a 
star so called, lit. a she-goat, 
dim. of canra, a she-goat : see tury, 'placed upon the 
-, -. J . ' ., & ,, . cainau but not at- 
caper 1 .] A star, the fifth in niched to it. (From 
the heavens in order of bright- d,' 1 ''M V>meJ l francaui" t ) 
ness. It is situated. on the left . 
shoulder of Auriga, in front of the Great Bear, nearly on a 
line with the two northernmost of the seven stars forming 
Charles s Wain; and it is easily recognized by the prox- 
imity of "the Kids," three stars of the fourth magnitude 
forming an isosceles triangle. The color of Capella is 
nearly the same as that of the sun. St-c cut under vl I//VM. 
capellanet (kap'e-lan), n. [< ML. capettanus: 
see chaplain."] A chaplain ; a curate of a chap- 
el. Fuller. 
Capeline, i3th cen- 
