# capacity

Pronunciation: say "kuh-PA-si-tee" /kəˈpæ.sɪ.ti/

## Noun

1. The amount that something can hold or contain, often given as a volume.
   - Simple: How much something can hold, such as a room, a tank or an engine.
   - _The warehouse is already at capacity, so the new stock will have to wait._
   - _The reservoir is at less than half its capacity after the dry winter._
2. The ability or power to carry out a task.
   - Simple: The ability to do something.
   - _Few people lack the capacity to succeed; more often they lack the will to work at it._
   - _The hospital's capacity to treat burns was tested by the fire._
3. The greatest amount that something, such as a factory or machine, can produce.
   - Simple: The most that can be made or done in a given time.
   - _The new plant will double the company's capacity to build electric cars._
   - _Spare capacity in the power grid vanished during the heat wave._
4. A role; the position or function in which one acts.
   - Simple: The job or role someone is acting in.
   - _In his capacity as trustee he could not vote on the sale._
   - _The ambassador was there in a private capacity, not representing her government._
5. A natural ability or power of the mind, especially to learn or to develop a skill.
   - Simple: A natural ability in a person's mind, such as being able to learn something well.
   - _Her capacity for languages astonished her tutors._
   - _The test claims to measure capacity rather than knowledge._
6. The ability to hold, take in, or soak up something.
   - Simple: The ability to hold or take in something.
   - _Dry soil has little capacity to absorb a sudden downpour._
   - _The heat capacity of water is what keeps coastal towns mild._
7. Legal authority or competence, as to make an arrest or enter a contract.
   - Simple: The legal power to do something, such as sign a contract or make an arrest.
   - _The court found that she lacked capacity to make the will._
   - _The court had to decide whether the elderly man still had the capacity to make a valid will when he signed it._

## Adjective

8. Filling the allotted space; as large as the space allows.
   - Simple: Filling all the space there is.
   - _Capacity crowds turned out for every night of the run._
   - _The train left with a capacity load and a hundred people on the platform._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Electrical capacitance.

## Origin

Latin capiō ('to hold, contain, take, or understand') gave capāx ('able to hold much'), and on that was built capācitās; the word reached English through Old French capacite and Middle English capacite.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/capacity (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).