capacity
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (9)capacities
- capability to perform or produce“among his gifts is his capacity for true altruism”“limited runway capacity”“a great capacity for growth”Opposite incapacityType of capability, capableness
- the susceptibility of something to a particular treatment“the capability of a metal to be fused”Synonyms: capabilityType of susceptibility, susceptiblenessKinds activity, resistance
- the amount that can be contained“the gas tank has a capacity of 12 gallons”Synonyms: contentType of volumeKinds vital capacity
- the maximum production possible“the plant is working at 80 per cent capacity”Type of production
- a specified function“he was employed in the capacity of director”“he should be retained in his present capacity at a higher salary”Type of function, office
- (computer science) the amount of information (in bytes) that can be stored on a disk drive“the capacity of a hard disk drive is usually expressed in megabytes”Type of indefinite quantityKinds formatted capacity, unformatted capacity
- an electrical phenomenon whereby an electric charge is storedSynonyms: capacitanceelectrical capacity
- the power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of your behaviorSynonyms: mental ability
- tolerance for alcohol“he had drunk beyond his capacity”
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Noun the ability to hold, receive, or absorb
- Spanish
- capacidad
- French
- capacité
- German
- Kapazität
- Italian
- capienza
- Portuguese
- capacidade
- Turkish
- kapasite
- Russian
- ёмкость jómkostʹ
- Arabic
- سِعَة siʕa
- Chinese
- 容量 róngliàng
- Japanese
- 容量 yōryō
15 more languages
- Dutch
- capaciteit
- Polish
- pojemność
- Swedish
- kapacitet
- Greek
- χωρητικότητα choritikótita
- Korean
- 용량 yongnyang
- Hungarian
- kapacitás
- Portuguese (PT)
- capacidade
- Chinese (Trad.)
- 容量 róngliàng
- Catalan
- capacitat
- Czech
- kapacita
- Danish
- kapacitet
- Finnish
- kapasiteetti
- Norwegian
- kapasitet
- Romanian
- capacitate
- Swahili
- ujazo
Noun ability, capability
- Spanish
- capacidad
- French
- capacité
- German
- Fähigkeit
- Italian
- capacità
- Portuguese
- capacidade
- Russian
- спосо́бность sposóbnostʹ
- Chinese
- 能力 nénglì
- Dutch
- capaciteit
- Swedish
- kapacitet
- Greek
- ικανότητα ikanótita
10 more languages
- Korean
- 역량 yeongnyang
- Hungarian
- képesség
- Portuguese (PT)
- capacidade
- Catalan
- capacitat
- Finnish
- kyky
- Hebrew
- כושר kósher
- Latvian
- spēja
- Norwegian
- kapasitet
- Romanian
- capacitate
- Serbo-Croatian
- sposobnost
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. capacitus, fr. capax, capacis; fr. F. capacité. See Capacious.
1. The power of receiving or containing; extent of room or space; passive power; — used in reference to physical things.
Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together.— William Shakespeare
The capacity of the exhausted cylinder.— Robert Boyle
2. The power of receiving and holding ideas, knowledge, etc.; the comprehensiveness of the mind; the receptive faculty; capability of understanding or feeling.
Capacity is now properly limited to these [the mere passive operations of the mind]; its primary signification, which is literally room for, as well as its employment, favors this; although it can not be denied that there are examples of its usage in an active sense.— Sir William Hamilton
3. Ability; power pertaining to, or resulting from, the possession of strength, wealth, or talent; possibility of being or of doing.
The capacity of blessing the people.— Alex. Hamilton.
A cause with such capacities endued.— Sir Richard Blackmore
4. Outward condition or circumstances; occupation; profession; character; position; as, to work in the capacity of a mason or a carpenter.
5. Law Legal or moral qualification, as of age, residence, character, etc., necessary for certain purposes, as for holding office, for marrying, for making contracts, wills, etc.; legal power or right; competency.
Capacity for heat, the power of absorbing heat. Substances differ in the amount of heat requisite to raise them a given number of thermometric degrees, and this difference is the measure of, or depends upon, what is called their capacity for heat. See Specific heat, under Heat.
Synonyms: Ability; faculty; talent; capability; skill; efficiency; cleverness. See Ability.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
<communications> The maximum possible data transfer rate of a communications channel under ideal conditions. The total capacity of a channel may be shared between several independent data streams using some kind of multiplexing, in which case, each stream's data rate may be limited to a fixed fraction of the total capacity.
(2001-05-22)