capitalist
noun
- economic agent that owns or controls the means of producing wealth
- people supporting capitalism
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L56567 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈkæp.ɪ.tə.lɪst/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput Proto-Italic *kaput Latin caput Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin capitālisbor. Old French capitalbor. Middle English capital English capital Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist ▲ French capitalistecalq. English capitalist From capital + -ist. Calque of French capitaliste.
- Of, or pertaining to, capitalism.
“capitalist economy”
“capitalist countries”
- Supporting or endorsing capitalism.
“Well, I thank you for your question, but I have to say we're capitalist—and that is just the way it is. However, we do think that capitalism is not necessarily meeting the needs with the income inequality that we have in our country.”
- American.
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *káput Proto-Italic *kaput Latin caput Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin capitālisbor. Old French capitalbor. Middle English capital English capital Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ῐστής (-ĭstḗs)bor. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist ▲ French capitalistecalq. English capitalist From capital + -ist. Calque of French capitaliste.
- The owner of a considerable amount of capital; a wealthy person.
“Very little of capital acquired in commerce is directed towards agriculture, save where a wealthy capitalist purchases lands for his own use; but it is seldom, if ever, applied to the improvement of the country, in the hands of the original landholders.”
“Were a wealthy English capitalist to dispose of the property that belongs to him in Êngland, which has been realised by former industry, and take it to Van Diemen's Land, where he could have land for nothing, he would probably discover that he had made no very judicious change.”
- Someone whose wealth (capital) is invested in business ventures in order to return a profit.
“Near-synonyms: businessman, financier, industrialist”
“The labourers do only receive, and ever have only received, as much as will subsist them, the landlords receive the surplus produce of the more fertile soils, and all the rest of the whole produce of labour in this and in every country goes to the capitalist under the name of profit for the use of his capital.”
- A person who is a supporter of capitalism.
“In a world of cheap airfares, laptops, and the Internet, we proudly regard mobility as a sign of how advanced we are. Hey, we're nomadic hipster capitalists!”