Capitalization
Section 9.1
Although there are many specialized rules for capitalizingletters, the following four are the most common.
- Capitalize the first words of sentences, including sentences cited in quotations:
The QA engineer has been quoted as saying, "The main sourceof connector failure found in the analysis is seal deformationcaused by pressures in excess of 1000 psig."- Capitalize proper names, including any particular person, object, place, project, institution, river, vessel, genus, culture, ethnic group, or formal job title:
| Project Athena | Operation Empty Space |
| National Aeronautics and Space Administration | |
| the aircraft carrier Kittyhawk | Asian-American |
| the White Nile | Mars |
| the University of California at Santa Cruz | Air Force One |
| Dean for Undergraduate Education | Director of Operations |
- Unless you are following a documentation style that specifies otherwise, capitalize titles of books, periodicals, published and unpublished reports, articles, and document sections:
A Handbook of Chemical ProcessesJournal of the American Chemical Society
A Report to the President on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger[published report]
"Report of the O-Ring Seal Design Team" [unpublished report]
Benefits of Caloric Restriction [section of an article]
- Capitalize references to specific figures, tables, chapters, sections, equations:
Chapter TwoEquation 36
Figure 10-3
Appendix C
Rules for Capitalizing Multiple-Word Titles and Proper Names
Unless you are following a documentation style that specifies otherwise, observe the followingrules for capitalizing multiple word titles and proper nouns.
General Guidelines for Capitalizing Scientific Terms
Each discipline has its own specific conventions for determining which terms should becapitalized. In general, scientific writing tends to minimize capitalized nouns. The following listsummarizes some widely observed practices.
- Capitalize and put in italics the phylum, class, order, family, and genus of plants and animals. Do not capitalize the species.
hom*o sapiensEsox lucius
- Capitalize the names of geological eras, periods, epochs, and series but do not capitalize the word indicating the amount of time:
Jurassic periodCenozoic era
- Capitalize astronomical terms such as the names of galaxies, constellations, stars, planets and their satellites, and asteroids. However, the terms earth, sun, and moon are often not capitalized unless they appear in a sentence that refers to other astronomical bodies.
The sun is an ordinary star.Venus and Earth differ significantlyin the composition of their atmospheres.
- Do not capitalize medical terms except for any part of a term consisting of a proper noun:
infectious mononucleosisbrachial plexus
Parkinson's disease
- Do not capitalize physical laws, theorems, principles, or constants except for attached proper names:
special theory of relativityBoyle's law
the third law of thermodynamics
Avogadro's number
## Capitalization ##
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FAQs
Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction. The term also may refer to the choice of the casing applied to text.
What do you mean by capitalization? ›
Capitalization means using capital, or upper-case, letters. Capitalization of place names, family names, and days of the week are all standard in English. Using capital letters at the start of a sentence and capitalizing all the letters in a word for emphasis are both examples of capitalization.
What is an example of capitalization? ›
Some words, like the name Albert Einstein, are always capitalized; however, others are capitalized only in certain situations and are lowercase in others. For example, directions like north and west are normally lowercased but are capitalized when they're used as part of a geographic name, like the West Coast.
Why does capitalization mean? ›
Capitalization is an accounting method in which a cost is included in an asset's value and expensed over the asset's useful life, rather than expensed in the period the cost was incurred. Capitalization recognizes a cash outlay as an asset on the balance sheet rather than an expense on the income statement.
What does capitalization mean in small business? ›
Definition. Capitalization is the initial investment or seed money for a start-up that allows the business to launch and stay operational. It's often the investment made by the business owner, money borrowed from lenders, and funds from any other investors in the firm.
When to use capitalization? ›
Capital letters are useful signals for a reader. They have three main purposes: to let the reader know a sentence is beginning, to show important words in a title, and to signal proper names and official titles.
How does capitalization work? ›
To capitalize is to record a cost or expense on the balance sheet for the purposes of delaying full recognition of the expense. In general, capitalizing expenses is beneficial as companies acquiring new assets with long-term lifespans can amortize or depreciate the costs. This process is known as capitalization.
What is capitalization in your own words? ›
Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a word with its first letter as a capital letter (uppercase letter) and the remaining letters in lower case, in writing systems with a case distinction. The term also may refer to the choice of the casing applied to text.
What does it mean to capitalize a cost? ›
A capitalized cost is an expense added to the cost basis of a fixed asset on a company's balance sheet. Capitalized costs are incurred when building or purchasing fixed assets. Capitalized costs are not expensed in the period they were incurred but recognized over a period of time via depreciation or amortization.
What is an example of a capitalization issue? ›
For example, if you held 130 shares on the Record Date you will have received 3 Capitalisation Issue Shares on the basis of the 1 for 40 Capitalisation Issue ratio. You will now hold a total of 133 shares.
Market cap, or market capitalization, is one way of measuring a company's total value, based on outstanding shares of stock. A company's market cap will fluctuate with its share price. Investors can use market cap to gauge public interest and company strength.
Does capitalization mean yelling? ›
Short strings of words in capital letters appear bolder and "louder" than mixed case, and this is sometimes referred to as "screaming" or "shouting". All caps can also be used to indicate that a given word is an acronym.
What is the term capitalization used for? ›
The term Capitalization is used in relation to Joint stock companies. Capitalization is the sum of a corporation's stock, long-term debt, and retained earnings. Capitalization also refers to the number of outstanding shares multiplied by share price.
Does capitalization matter in LLC? ›
No distinction between upper and lower case letters, typeface or font will be recognized.
What are the IRS rules for capitalization? ›
Under the uniform capitalization rules, you must capitalize all direct costs and an allocable part of most indirect costs you incur due to your production or resale activities.
What does it mean to capitalize on something in business? ›
To capitalize is an accounting determination whereby the recognition of expenses is delayed by recording the expense as a long-term asset and then released over its useful life. Whether a transaction is expense or capitalized is guided by the matching-principle of accounting.
What does capitalization mean in a legal document? ›
In legal usage, some common nouns referring to parties in an action, to judicial bodies or to the names of documents are capitalized: Counsel for the Plaintiff.
What does it mean for a cost to be capitalized? ›
A capitalized cost is an expense added to the cost basis of a fixed asset on a company's balance sheet. Capitalized costs are incurred when building or purchasing fixed assets. Capitalized costs are not expensed in the period they were incurred but recognized over a period of time via depreciation or amortization.
