Kapitaals

Kapitaals is a term that does not have a single, widely accepted definition. In contemporary Dutch and English, it is not a standard technical term, and what it means can vary depending on the source and context. The two most plausible senses involve typography and general notions of capital or assets.

In typographic and paleographic contexts, kapitaals (often seen as kapitaalsletters) can denote uppercase letters. This usage traces back to Latin capitalis, meaning “of the head” or “capital,” and to early European typography. In modern Dutch, the common word for uppercase letters is hoofdletters; kapitaalsletters is typically found only in historical texts or in specialized discussions of typography.

In economic language, the standard Dutch word for capital is kapitaal, with the usual plural kapitalen. The form kapitaals is not considered standard in contemporary Dutch and would generally be viewed as archaic, regional, or a misspelling rather than a distinct technical term.

Etymologically, kapitaals reflects the Latin root capitalis, reinforced through historical Dutch and other European languages. The shared root underpins both the notion of capital as wealth and the notion of capital letters as the “capital” or prominent form of writing.

See also: capital letter, hoofdletter, kapitalen, capital in languages.