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capitonym

/ˈkæpɪtəˌnɪm/
IPA guide

Other forms: capitonyms

A capitonym is a word that changes meaning, and sometimes pronunciation, when its first letter is capitalized. For instance, the verb polish, "to make something shine," becomes the adjective Polish, "relating to the country of Poland."

Capitonyms are a subset of homonyms, words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Capitonyms have different meanings based on whether the first letter is capitalized or not. The words China and china are capitonyms: The first is the proper name of a country, and the second refers to ceramic dishware. Other examples are Turkey (the country) versus turkey (the bird), and March (the month) versus march (walking in a procession).

Definitions of capitonym
  1. noun
    a word that means something different when capitalized versus uncapitalized
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