# capitalist

Pronunciation: US say "KAP-i-tuh-list" /ˈkæp.ɪ.tə.lɪst/; UK

## Noun

1. Someone who uses accumulated wealth to fund business ventures, aiming to get back more than they put in.
   - Simple: A person who puts money into businesses in order to earn a profit.
   - _The capitalist spread her funds across a dozen startups, expecting most to fail and a few to succeed._
   - _Wealthy capitalists financed the canal, betting that toll revenue would repay them many times over._
2. A person who supports the economic system of capitalism.
   - Simple: A person who believes in and supports capitalism.
   - _A committed capitalist, she championed deregulation and praised entrepreneurs at every turn._
   - _The young capitalists at the forum insisted that free enterprise lifts people out of poverty._
5. A person who owns a considerable amount of capital and is therefore wealthy.
   - Simple: A person who owns a large amount of money or wealth.
   - _The railway capitalist left a fortune large enough to fund a university._
   - _A handful of capitalists controlled most of the city's wealth._

## Adjective

3. Relating to or characteristic of capitalism and its system of private ownership and markets.
   - Simple: Relating to capitalism, where private owners run businesses to make money.
   - _The reforms pushed the nation toward a more capitalist framework of private ownership and open markets._
   - _Capitalist enterprise flourished once the government lifted its trade restrictions._
4. Expressing support for or endorsement of capitalism.
   - Simple: Showing support for capitalism and its free markets.
   - _The party adopted a firmly capitalist platform, calling for lower taxes and freer trade._
   - _His capitalist arguments won over the undecided voters in the hall._
6. American, used especially by communist states during the Cold War to describe the United States and its allies. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: American, as communist countries often called the West during the Cold War.
   - _Soviet broadcasts railed against the capitalist warmongers across the ocean._
   - _The minister accused the capitalist nations of plotting against the workers' republic._

## Origin

From French capitaliste, equivalent to capital plus the suffix -ist, ultimately going back to the Proto-Indo-European root *káput meaning "head."

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