Etymograph

English

capacify

Capacify comes from Latin capax ‘capacious’, from capiō ‘to hold, contain, am large enough for’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti1‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjō2‘to take, seize’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEkapiō2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiō3‘to hold, contain, am large enough for’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapax4‘capacious’
  7. Englishearliest quotation a. 1678capacify4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin capio, which cites LIV
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin capax
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English capacify
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1678, Isaac Barrow, (please specify the chapter name or sermon number): “the benefice he is capacified and designed for”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjōreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyétiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjōWiktionary, Latin capio, which cites LIV‘to take, seize’reconstructed
  4. Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEkapiōWiktionary, Latin capio, which cites LIV
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapiōWiktionary, Latin capax‘to hold, contain, am large enough for’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapaxWiktionary, English capacify‘capacious’
  7. Englishearliest quotation a. 1678capacifyWiktionary, English capacify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: a. 1678, Isaac Barrow, (please specify the chapter name or sermon number): “the benefice he is capacified and designed for”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap-

had, head, except, heavy, behavior, catch, capital, heavily, captain, chapter, achieve, escape, chef, haven, occupation, acceptance, behave, cattle, cabin, chapel, cape, hawk, capitol, precipitation, capita, conceive, mischief, captive, chaplain, captivity, conceivable, mischievous, cad, haves, chieftain, precipitate, heaviness, capillary, occipital, chattel, 136 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’

heave, heaving, heft, 26 more

through Proto-Italic *kapjō ‘to take, seize’

case, chassis, cashier, capsule, cassette, casket, kas, cajon, chasse, 25 more

through Archaic Latin kapiō

acceptable, imperceptible, 22 more

through Latin capiō ‘to hold, contain, am large enough for’

receive, cash, accept, chase, cop, cable, reception, perception, capable, capture, recipe, recipient, susceptible, deception, anticipation, anticipate, deceive, caption, deceptive, cater, deceit, receivable, preoccupation, perceptible, preceptor, captivate, captor, sashay, 24 more

Today it means

verb To qualify, to allow.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “capacify”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *kapjō, Latin capio, Latin capax. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kap- / capacify

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