capitalism
/ˈkæpɪtəlɪzəm/noun
Economic system organized around private capital and profit
From Latin, via Old French capital (Head).
Lineage
capital
-ism
The story
The trail begins with a head: Proto-Indo-European *káput, continued in Latin caput. From that same Latin family come such unexpected relatives as decapitate and capitulate—the latter originally carried the sense of drawing up terms under “heads” or headings. Latin capitalis meant “of the head,” then “chief” or “principal”; over time, capital also came to mean wealth put to work to produce more wealth. French joined that word to -isme, a Greek-derived suffix for systems and doctrines, and English had capitalism by 1854; its economic-system sense is recorded from 1872, initially in disparaging use by socialists. A word that began at the top of the body ended up naming a system built around what sits at the top of a balance sheet.
Words from the same roots
capital · Latin, via Old French, ‘Head; by extension, chief or principal, and later wealth used in trade.’
Derivedcapital, capitalist, capitol, capital letter, decapitate, capitulate
-ism · Ancient Greek, via Latin and French, ‘A suffix denoting a practice, condition, system, or doctrine.’
Derivedsocialism, altruism, humanism, atheism, consumerism
Sources
- Etymonlinecapitalism, capital, -ism, proto-indo-european, socialism, canteen, consumerism
- Urban Dictionarycapitalism
- Wikipediacapitalism
- Wiktionarycapitalism, capital, -ism