Dab solver - Capitonym

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Words for transcendent ideas in the Platonic sense are often capitalized, especially when used in a religious context.  Examples include "Good", "Beauty", "Truth" or "the One".^ref

The word "god" is capitalized to "God" when referring to the single deity of [[monotheism|monotheistic]] religions such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. 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]].  The [[Liberal Party of Australia]] and [[Liberal Party of Canada]] are not philosophically liberal; thus, in these countries, adherents of liberalism are sometimes said to be "small-l liberals" to differentiate.^ref  Similar examples are [[Conservatism|conservative]]/, [[democracy|democrat]]/[[...|Democrat]], [[Libertarianism|libertarian]]/, [[Republicanism|republican]]/, [[socialism|socialist]]/, and a supporter of [[labour movement|labour]]/.

=== List of capitonyms in English ===

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.5 lines hidden (564 characters)
|-
! Capitalised word
! Lowercase word
! Notes
|-
| Alpine: of or relating to the [[Alps]]
| alpine: relating to high mountains; living or growing in high mountains; an alpine plant
|
|-
| Arabic: of or relating to the [[Arabic language]] or [[Arabic literature]]
| arabic: [[Gum arabic|(gum) arabic]], also called gum acacia, a food ingredient
|
|-
| [[Ares]]: god of war
| [[Hectare#Are|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|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. The distinction is obsolete when the [[...|SI]] unit of energy, the joule, is used instead (1 calorie is about 4.2 joules).
|-
|: a [[Cancer (constellation)|constellation]] and [[Cancer (astrology)|astrological]] sign, or a [[Cancer (genus)|genus of crab]]
|[[cancer]]: a class of diseases
|
|-12 lines hidden (537 characters)
|-
| Divine: relating to God
| divine: to discover by intuition or insight; to locate water, minerals, etc.
| In lower case, the word can take either meaning
|-
| Earth: a planet
| earth: the dry land of this planet
|
|-
| Gallic: relating to France or to the ancient territory of [[Gaul]]
| gallic: relating to [[gall]]s (abnormal plant growths) or [[gallic acid]]
|
|-
| German: from Germany
| german: closely related (mostly obsolete)
|
|-
| God: "the supreme or ultimate reality" ([http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/God Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary]), the specific deity of most monotheistic religions
| god: "a being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require human worship" (ibidem), a deity in general
| The word for God is capitalized when referring to the monotheistic [[Supreme Being]], but lowercased when referring to the gods of ancient mythology^ref
|-
| Ionic: relating to [[Ionia]] or to a [[Ionic order|style of classical architecture]]
| ionic: relating to (chemical) [[ion]]s
|
|-
| : of, or relating to [[Italy]]
| [[italic type|italic]]: pertaining to a sloping typeface or font
|
|-
| [[Job (Biblical figure)|]]: subject of a book of the [[Bible]]
| job: a form of [[employment]]
| Different pronunciations
|-

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{{Refimprove|date=March 2010}}
A '''capitonym''' is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized; the capitalization usually applies due to one form being a [[proper noun]] or [[eponym]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}} It is a [[portmanteau]] of the word ''capital'' with the suffix ''[[-onym]]''. A capitonym is a form of [[homonym|homograph]] and – when the two forms are pronounced differently – also of [[homonym|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 [[natural satellite|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.

==In English==
{{see also|Capitalization in English}}

===Philosophical, religious, and political terms===
A particular example of where capitonyms are prominent is in terminology relating to philosophy, religion, and politics. Capitalized 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.

It is common practice to capitalize the pronouns referring to God (He, Him, His, etc.)<ref>{{cite book|last=Shewan|first=Ed|title=Applications of Grammar: Principles of Effective Communication|year=2003|publisher=Liberty Press|isbn=1930367287|pages=112}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Elwell|first=Celia|title=Practical Legal Writing for Legal Assistants|year=1996|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=0314061150|pages=71}}</ref> and many versions of the [[Bible]], such as the [[NKJV]], therefore do so.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Bible translator: Volumes 43-45|year=1992|publisher=United Bible Societies|pages=226}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cabal|first=Ted|title=The Apologetics Study Bible|year=2007|publisher=B&H Publishing Group|isbn=1586404466|pages=xix}}</ref> In this tradition, possessive pronouns are also capitalized if one is quoting God; "My" and "Mine" are capitalized, which should not be done when a human speaks.<ref name>{{cite book|title=The Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing|year=1997|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=1550022768|pages=77}}</ref> The pronouns "You", "Your", and "Yours" are also sometimes capitalized in reference to God.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Teaching of Christ: A Catholic Catechism for Adults|year=2004|publisher=Our Sunday Visitor Publishing|isbn=1592760945|pages=8}}</ref>

Words for transcendent ideas in the Platonic sense are often capitalized, especially when used in a religious context. Examples include "Good", "Beauty", "Truth" or "the One".<ref>{{cite book |title=The Chicago Manual of Style |edition=16th |year=2010 |at=8.93 |isbn=978-0-226-10420-1}}</ref>

The word "god" is capitalized to "God" when referring to the single deity of [[monotheism|monotheistic]] religions such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. 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]]. The [[Liberal Party of Australia]] and [[Liberal Party of Canada]] are not philosophically liberal; thus, in these countries, adherents of liberalism are sometimes said to be "small-l liberals" to differentiate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/27/how-the-liberal-party-left-malcolm-fraser-behind/|title=How the Liberal Party left Malcolm Fraser behind|author=Charles Richardson|date=27 May 2010|accessdate=2010-12-30|work=Crikey}}
</ref> Similar examples are [[Conservatism|conservative]]/<<link:0>>, [[democracy|democrat]]/[[Democratic Party (disambiguation)|Democrat]], [[Libertarianism|libertarian]]/<<link:1>>, [[Republicanism|republican]]/<<link:2>>, [[socialism|socialist]]/<<link:3>>, and a supporter of [[labour movement|labour]]/<<link:4>>.

===List of capitonyms in English===
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.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Capitalised word
! Lowercase word
! Notes
|-
| ''Alpine'': of or relating to the [[Alps]]
| ''alpine'': relating to high mountains; living or growing in high mountains; an alpine plant
|
|-
| ''Arabic'': of or relating to the [[Arabic language]] or [[Arabic literature]]
| ''arabic'': [[Gum arabic|(gum) arabic]], also called gum acacia, a food ingredient
|
|-
| ''[[Ares]]'': god of war
| ''[[Hectare#Are|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|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. The distinction is obsolete when the [[International System of Units|SI]] unit of energy, the joule, is used instead (1 calorie is about 4.2 joules).
|-
|''<<link:5>>'': a [[Cancer (constellation)|constellation]] and [[Cancer (astrology)|astrological]] sign, or a [[Cancer (genus)|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]]'': ({{IPA|/kɛlt/}} or {{IPA|/sɛlt/}}) a person from an ethnic group using a [[Celtic language]]
| ''celt'': ({{IPA|/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.
| In lower case, the word can take either meaning
|-
| ''Earth'': a planet
| ''earth'': the dry land of this planet
|
|-
| ''Gallic'': relating to France or to the ancient territory of [[Gaul]]
| ''gallic'': relating to [[gall]]s (abnormal plant growths) or [[gallic acid]]
|
|-
| ''German'': from Germany
| ''german'': closely related (mostly obsolete)
|
|-
| ''God'': "the supreme or ultimate reality" ([http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/God Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary]), the specific deity of most monotheistic religions
| ''god'': "a being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and powers and to require human worship" (''ibidem''), a deity in general
| The word for God is capitalized when referring to the monotheistic [[Supreme Being]], but lowercased when referring to the gods of ancient mythology<ref>{{cite book|last=Freeman|title=The Common Sense SAT Workbook|year=2010|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=1449037992|pages=315}}</ref>
|-
| ''Ionic'': relating to [[Ionia]] or to a [[Ionic order|style of classical architecture]]
| ''ionic'': relating to (chemical) [[ion]]s
|
|-
| ''<<link:6>>'': of, or relating to [[Italy]]
| ''[[italic type|italic]]'': pertaining to a sloping typeface or font
|
|-
| ''[[Job (Biblical figure)|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''
|
|-
| ''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
|
|-
| ''[[Marine (military)|Marine]]'': infantry specialized in naval or amphibious warfare
| ''marine'': something produced by the sea
|
|-
| ''[[Mass (liturgy)|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 city in [[France]]
| nice: pleasant
| Different pronunciations
|-
| ''Pole'': a [[Polish people|Polish person]]
| ''pole'': a long thin cylindrical object; various other meanings
|
|-
| ''Polish'': {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|oʊ|l|ɪ|ʃ}} from [[Poland]]
| ''polish'': {{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɒ|l|ɪ|ʃ}} to create a shiny surface by rubbing ; a compound used in that process
| Different pronunciations
|-
|''[[Reading, Berkshire|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]], or a [[Scotch whisky|form of whisky]]
|''scotch'': to put an end to (especially rumours)
|
|-
|''Swede'': a person from [[Sweden]]
|''swede'': a vegetable (''Brassica napobrassica''), also known as [[rutabaga]]
|
|-
|''[[Tangier]]'': a city in [[Morocco]]
|''tangier'': comparative of adjective "tangy".
|Tangier is pronounced {{respell|tan|JEER|'}} with {{IPAblink|dʒ}}, tangier pronounced {{respell|TANG|ee-ər}} with {{IPAblink|ŋ}}
|-
|''[[Turkey]]'': a country in the Middle East
|''[[turkey (bird)|turkey]]'': a bird, often raised for food
|
|-
|''Welsh'': from or relating to [[Wales]]
|''welsh'': to renege (on an agreement)
|The verb ''welsh'' (also spelled ''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
|}

=== Examples in poems ===
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, Massachusetts|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]].

==Other languages==
In other languages there are more, or fewer, of these pairs depending on that language's capitalization rules. For example, in [[German (language)|German]], where all [[noun]]s are capitalized, there are many pairs such as ''Laut'' (sound) ~ ''laut'' (loud) or ''Morgen'' (morning) ~ ''morgen'' (tomorrow). In contrast, in [[Italian (language)|Italian]], as well as [[Spanish (language)|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.)

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Lists of English words|Case-sensitive]]
[[Category:Semantics]]
[[Category:Types of words]]
[[Category:Word play]]
[[Category:Homonymy]]

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