capitalism

UK/ˈkapɪt(ə)lɪz(ə)m/US/ˈkæp.ə.təlˌɪzm̩/

nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #8,291 of 15,258leans written

Capitalism is a system where business is privately owned and run for profit. Modern capitalism, under capitalism, the rise of capitalism.

Private ownership of the means of production, wage labour and market prices are the usual defining features. The word was used by its critics long before its defenders, which is why it still carries an argumentative edge that market economy does not. Note capitalist; state capitalism; and that the word comes from capital, from the Latin for head, since cattle were counted by the head.

Definitions of capitalism

1nouncapitalismA system where business is privately owned and run for profit.C1
“Critics of capitalism argue that it makes the rich richer and leaves the poor behind.”

capitalism is an economic system.

Where it comes from

French capitalisme comes from capital, from Latin capitalis, of the head, from caput. Cattle and chattel come from the same head, since wealth was counted in animals.

French
capitalisme
English, today
capitalism

Borrowed from French capitalisme. Borrowed from French capitalisme (“the condition of one who is rich”); equivalent to capital + -ism. Derived from Proto-Indo-European káput (“head”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kap-. First used in English by novelist William Thackeray in The Newcomes 1854-1855.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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capitalism in the wild

Different forms of capitalism feature varying degrees of free markets, public ownership, barriers to free competition, and state-sanctioned social policies.
Capitalism
The degree of competition in markets, the role of intervention and regulation, and the scope of state ownership vary across different models of capitalism.
Capitalism
Although free markets are commonly associated with capitalism in contemporary usage and popular culture, free markets have also been components in some forms of market socialism.
Free market
There are various theories and critiques of state capitalism, some of which existed before the Russian October Revolution of 1917.
State capitalism
Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with alternative economic systems such as socialism and communism.
Anti-capitalism

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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