A capitonym is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized, and usually applies to capitalization due to proper nouns or eponyms. It is a portmanteau of the word capital with the suffix -onym. A capitonym is a form of homograph and – when the two forms are pronounced differently – also of heteronym. In situations where both words should be capitalized (such as the beginning of a sentence), there will be nothing to distinguish between them except the context in which they are used.
Although some pairs, such as march and March, are completely unrelated, in other cases, such as august and catholic, the capitalized form is a name that is etymologically related to the uncapitalized form. For example, August derives from the name of Imperator Augustus, who named himself after the word augustus, whence English august came. Likewise, both Catholic and catholic derive from a Greek adjective meaning "universal".
Capital letters may be used to differentiate between a set of objects, and a particular example of that object. For instance in Astronomical terminology a distinction may be drawn between a moon, any natural satellite, and the Moon, to be specific the natural satellite of Earth. Likewise, Sun with a capital may be used to emphasise that the sun of Earth is under discussion.
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A particular example of where capitonyms are prominent is in terminology relating to philosophy, religion, and politics. Capitalised words are often used to differentiate a philosophical concept from how the concept is referred to in everyday life, or to demonstrate respect for an entity or institution.
The word god/God is often capitalised when referring to the single God of the Christian, Jewish, or Islamic faith. Other distinctions made include church (meaning a building) and Church (meaning an organization or group of people), and the liturgical Mass, versus the physical mass.
As political parties are often named after philosophies, a capital letter is used to differentiate between a supporter of the philosophy, and a supporter of the party, for instance Liberal, a supporter of any Liberal Party, and liberal, a supporter of the philosophy of liberalism. In Australia and Canada, where the parties known as the "Liberal Party" are not philosophically liberal, adherents of liberalism are sometimes said to be "small-l liberals" to differentiate.[1] Similar examples are conservative/Conservative, democrat/Democrat, libertarian/Libertarian, republican/Republican, socialist/Socialist, and a supporter of labour/Labour.
In other languages there are more, or fewer, of these pairs depending on that language's capitalization rules. For example, in German, where all nouns are capitalized, there are many pairs such as Laut (sound) ~ laut (loud) or Morgen (morning) ~ morgen (tomorrow). In contrast, in Italian, as well as Spanish, very few words (except proper names) are capitalized, so there are extremely few, if any, such pairs. (An example is Messa (Mass) ~ messa (feminine past participle of mettere = to put), though the former is sometimes spelled with a lowercase m too.)
The following list includes only "dictionary words". Personal names (Mark/mark), place-names (China/china), company names (Fiat/fiat), names of publications (Time/time) etc. are all excluded as too numerous to list. Adjectives derived from placenames (e.g. Italic/italic) are allowed. Pairs in which one word is simply a secondary meaning of the other – e.g. Masonry (secret society), which is in essence a peculiar use of the word masonry (wall building) – are omitted.
| Capitalised word | Lowercase word | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Alpine: of or relating to the Alps | alpine: (adj.) relating to high mountains; living or growing in high mountains; (n.) an alpine plant | |
| Arabic: of or relating to the Arabic language or Arabic literature | arabic: (gum) arabic, also called gum acacia, a food ingredient, arabic numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) | The so-called "arabic" numbers are really from India, but it was the Arabs who brought them to Europe. |
| Ares: god of war | ares: plural of are, a metric unit of area | different pronunciations |
| August: the eighth month of the year | august: majestic or venerable | different pronunciations |
| Boxing (Day): 26 December | boxing: a sport | |
| Calorie: a kilogram-calorie (Cal) | calorie: a gram-calorie (cal) | A practice advocated by some, and not widely followed. The use of the terms 'small calorie' and 'large calorie' or 'gram calorie' and 'kilogram calorie' eliminates any potential confusion. Food product labeling, which often uses Calorie in an ambiguous capitalization, generally refers to kilogram-calories. |
| Cancer: 1. a constellation and astrological sign. 2. a genus of crab. | cancer: a class of diseases. | |
| Catholic: relating to the Catholic Church (usually the Roman Catholic Church) (adj.); a member of that church (noun) | catholic: free of provincial prejudices or attachments; universal | |
| Celt: (/kɛlt/ or /sɛlt/) a person from an ethnic group using a Celtic language | celt: (/sɛlt/) a prehistoric axe | |
| Cuban: from Cuba | cuban: relating to cubes, as in cuban prime (rare technical use) | |
| Divine: relating to God | divine: to discover by intuition or insight; to locate water, minerals, etc. | The capitalized form usually means transcendent, holy, or relating to God, but when lowercased, the word can take either meaning. "The Divine" usually means "God" in particular. |
| Earth: a planet | earth: the dry land of this planet | |
| Gallic: relating to France or to the ancient territory of Gaul | gallic: relating to galls (abnormal plant growths) | |
| German: from Germany | german: close (relative) | |
| God: "the supreme or ultimate reality" (Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary) | god: "a being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require human worship" (ibidem) | Many languages capitalize the word for god/God, when it means the Jewish/Christian/Islamic god/God, but lowercase it when it means a god of another religion. Since German capitalizes all nouns, the German word "Gott" is always capitalized, no matter what religion the god belongs to. The same is valid for the word "Göttin" (goddess), which is almost always lowercased in other languages.
In the Soviet Union, it was forbidden to write God with an upper-case letter, making impossible this manner of distinguishing God (the being believed to create and rule the universe) from god (one of beings believed to control some part of the universe).[1] |
| He: pronoun for God | he: pronoun for a male | People normally capitalize pronouns that refer to God. One would write "This is His word" or "We thought we saw Him" and if one is quoting God, "my" and "mine" can be capitalized, which would not be done when a normal person speaks. |
| Ionic: relating to Ionia or to a style of classical architecture | ionic: relating to (chemical) ions | |
| Italic: of, or relating to Italy | italic: pertaining to a sloping typeface or font | |
| Job: subject of a book of the Bible | job: a form of employment | different pronunciations |
| Lent: the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter | lent: past tense and participle of to lend | |
| Libertarian: a member of the Libertarian Party | libertarian: an adherent of a libertarian ideology | |
| Lesbian: The demonym for Lesbos. | lesbian: a female homosexual (noun) or (adjective) pertaining to lesbians or their relationships. | |
| March: the third month of the year | march: to walk briskly and rhythmically | |
| Mass: a liturgical function | mass: a physical property of matter | |
| May: the fifth month of the year | may: modal verb | |
| Mercury: a planet; the messenger god of the Romans | mercury: chemical element number 80 (symbol Hg) | |
| Mosaic: pertaining to Moses | mosaic: a kind of decoration | |
| Nice: a location in France | nice: pleasant | different pronunciations |
| Pole: a Polish person | pole: a long thin cylindrical object; various other meanings | |
| Polish: (/ˈpoʊlɪʃ/) from Poland | polish: (/ˈpɒlɪʃ/) to create a shiny surface by rubbing (verb); a compound used in that process (noun) | different pronunciations |
| Providence: the guardianship and control exercised by a deity, also a city in Rhode Island | providence: provident or prudent managing of resources; foresight | |
| Reading: the county town of Berkshire, England, or any one of 17 populated areas in the United States named after it | reading: gerund or present participle of the verb to read, meaning to decode text or other signals. | different pronunciations |
| Scot: a native of Scotland | scot: a payment, charge, assessment, or tax | |
| Scotch: from or relating to Scotland | scotch: to put an end to (especially rumours) | |
| She: feminine singular pronoun used when referring to my wife | she: corresponding pronoun for some other woman | |
| Swede: a person from Sweden | swede: a vegetable (Brassica napobrassica), also known as rutabaga | |
| Tangier: City in Morocco | tangier: comparative of adjective "tangy". | Tangier is pronounced tan-jeer with [dʒ], tangier pronounced tang-ee-ər with [ŋ]. |
| Tradition (also Sacred Tradition): in some Christian churches, part of the "deposit of faith"[2] | tradition: custom passed down within a family or other cultural group | |
| Truth: Absolute reality | truth: a wise saying, proverb, or maxim | |
| Turkey: a country in the Middle East | turkey: a bird, often raised for food | |
| Welsh: from or relating to Wales | welsh: to renege (on an agreement) | The verb welsh (also spelt welch) is of unknown etymology but is often described as deriving from the adjective Welsh and consequently perceived as insulting to people from Wales, although there is no direct evidence of the connection, nor any popular perception that people from Wales do not comply with agreements. |
| Western: relating to European culture | western: of the west or relating to western films or television programs |
The following poems, of unknown origin, are examples of the use of capitonyms:
Job's Job
In August, an august patriarch
Was reading an ad in Reading, Mass.
Long-suffering Job secured a job
To polish piles of Polish brass.
Herb's Herbs
An herb store owner, name of Herb,
Moved to a rainier Mount Rainier.
It would have been so nice in Nice,
And even tangier in Tangier.