Capacity

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Capacity \Ca*pac"i*ty\ (k[.a]*p[a^]s"[i^]*t[y^]), n.; pl.
     {Capacities} (-t[i^]z). [L. capacitus, fr. capax, capacis;
     fr. F. capacit['e]. See {Capacious}.]
     1. The power of receiving or containing; extent of room or
        space; passive power; -- used in reference to physical
        things.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              Had our great palace the capacity
              To camp this host, we all would sup together.
                                                    --Shak.
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              The capacity of the exhausted cylinder. --Boyle.
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     2. The power of receiving and holding ideas, knowledge, etc.;
        the comprehensiveness of the mind; the receptive faculty;
        capability of understanding or feeling.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Capacity is now properly limited to these [the mere
              passive operations of the mind]; its primary
              signification, which is literally room for, as well
              as its employment, favors this; although it can not
              be denied that there are examples of its usage in an
              active sense.                         --Sir W.
                                                    Hamilton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Ability; power pertaining to, or resulting from, the
        possession of strength, wealth, or talent; possibility of
        being or of doing.
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              The capacity of blessing the people.  --Alex.
                                                    Hamilton.
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              A cause with such capacities endued.  --Blackmore.
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     4. Outward condition or circumstances; occupation;
        profession; character; position; as, to work in the
        capacity of a mason or a carpenter.
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     5. (Law) Legal or moral qualification, as of age, residence,
        character, etc., necessary for certain purposes, as for
        holding office, for marrying, for making contracts, wills,
        etc.; legal power or right; competency.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Capacity for heat}, the power of absorbing heat. Substances
        differ in the amount of heat requisite to raise them a
        given number of thermometric degrees, and this difference
        is the measure of, or depends upon, what is called their
        capacity for heat. See {Specific heat}, under {Heat}.
  
     Syn: Ability; faculty; talent; capability; skill; efficiency;
          cleverness. See {Ability}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  capacity
       n 1: ability to perform or produce [ant: {incapacity}]
       2: the susceptibility of something to a particular treatment;
          "the capability of a metal to be fused" [syn: {capability}]
       3: the amount that can be contained; "the gas tank has a
          capacity of 12 gallons" [syn: {content}]
       4: the maximum production possible; "the plant is working at 80
          per cent capacity"
       5: a specified function; "he was employed in the capacity of
          director"; "he should be retained in his present capacity
          at a higher salary"
       6: (computer science) the amount of information (in bytes) that
          can be stored on a disk drive; "the capacity of a hard
          disk drive is usually expressed in megabytes"
       7: an electrical phenomenon whereby an electric charge is
          stored [syn: {capacitance}, {electrical capacity}]
       8: the power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability
          to understand the facts and significance of your behavior
          [syn: {mental ability}] [ant: {incapacity}]
       9: tolerance for alcohol; "he had drunk beyond his capacity"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  260 Moby Thesaurus words for "capacity":
     IQ, SRO, ability, ableness, accommodation, acumen, address,
     adeptness, adequacy, adroitness, airmanship, amplitude,
     apprehension, aptitude, artfulness, artisanship, artistry,
     bellyful, bent, brains, bravura, brilliance, brimful, brimming,
     bulging, bump, bumper, burden, bursting, caliber, capability,
     capableness, capaciousness, capacitance, capital, character,
     charge, chock-full, chuck-full, cleverness,
     collector junction capacitance, command, commodiousness,
     competence, competency, complement, comprehension, conception,
     condition, congested, consciousness, content, control,
     coordination, cordage, craft, craftsmanship, cram, cram-full,
     crammed, crush, cunning, deductive power, deftness, devices,
     dexterity, dexterousness, dextrousness, dimensions, diplomacy,
     disposable resources, dower, dowry, duty, efficacy, efficiency,
     emitter junction capacitance, endowment, equipment,
     esemplastic power, expansiveness, expertise, extensiveness,
     facility, faculties, faculty, farad, farci, fill, filled, finesse,
     fitness, flair, flush, footing, forte, full, full house,
     full measure, full to bursting, function, funds, genius, gift,
     grace, grip, handiness, horsemanship, ideation, ingeniousness,
     ingenuity, instinct, integrative power, intellect,
     intellectual gifts, intellectual grasp, intellectual power,
     intellectualism, intellectuality, intellectuals, intelligence,
     intelligence quotient, jam up, jam-packed, job, judgement, knack,
     know-how, knowledge, lading, limit, load, long suit, makings,
     marksmanship, mastership, mastery, means, measure, mental age,
     mental capacity, mental grasp, mental ratio, mentality, method,
     metier, might, mother wit, mouthful, native wit, natural endowment,
     natural gift, office, overfull, overstuffed, packed,
     packed like sardines, part, parts, perception, perceptiveness,
     perspicacity, place, plenary, position, post, potential, poundage,
     power, power of mind, powers, practical ability, proficiency,
     province, prowess, qualification, quality, quantity, quickness,
     rank, rationality, readiness, ready to burst, reasoning power,
     recourses, relation, replete, resistance capacitance, resorts,
     resource, resourcefulness, resources, responsibility, role, room,
     roominess, round, sanity, satiated, saturated, savoir-faire, savvy,
     scope of mind, seamanship, sense, senses, situation, size, skill,
     skillfulness, skinful, snootful, soaked, space, spaciousness,
     speciality, sphere, standing, standing room only, state, station,
     status, stock, stowage, strong flair, strong point, stuffed, style,
     sufficiency, supply, surfeited, susceptibility, swollen, tact,
     tactfulness, talent, talents, technical brilliance,
     technical mastery, technical skill, technique, the goods,
     the stuff, thinking power, timing, tonnage, topful, twin,
     understanding, virtuosity, volume, ways, ways and means,
     what it takes, wherewith, wherewithal, wit, wits, wizardry,
     workmanship
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  capacity
       
           The maximum possible {data transfer rate} of
          a communications channel under ideal conditions.  The total
          capacity of a channel may be shared between several
          independent data streams using some kind of {multiplexing}, in
          which case, each stream's data rate may be limited to a fixed
          fraction of the total capacity.
       
          (2001-05-22)
       
       

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  CAPACITY. This word, in the law sense, denotes some ability, power, 
  qualification, or competency of persons, natural, or artificial, for the 
  performance of civil acts, depending on their state or condition, as defined 
  or fixed by law; as, the capacity to devise, to bequeath, to grant or convey 
  lands; to take; or to take. and hold lands to make a contract, and the like. 
  2 Com. Dig. 294; Dane's Abr. h.t. 
       2. The constitution requires that the president, senators, and 
  representatives should have attained certain ages; and in the case of the 
  senators and representatives, that out these they have no capacity to serve 
  in these offices. 
       3. All laws which regulate the capacity of persons to contract, are 
  considered personal laws; such are the laws which relate to minority and 
  majority; to the powers of guardians or parents, or the disabilities of 
  coverture. The law of the domicil generally governs in cases of this kind. 
  Burge. on Sureties, 89.