ca·pac·i·ty   (kə-pās'ĭ-tē)    n.   pl. ca·pac·i·ties The ability to receive, hold, or absorb. Abbr. c. A measure of this ability; volume. Ability to perform or produce; capability. The maximum or optimum amount that can be produced: factories operating below capacity. The maximum amount that can be contained: a trunk filled to capacity. Ability to perform or produce; capability. The maximum or optimum amount that can be produced: factories operating below capacity. The power to learn or retain knowledge; mental ability. Innate potential for growth, development, or accomplishment; faculty. See Synonyms at ability. The quality of being suitable for or receptive to specified treatment: the capacity of elastic to be stretched. The position in which one functions; role: in your capacity as sales manager. Legal qualification or authority: the capacity to make an arrest. Electricity Capacitance. adj.  Filling a space with the most it can hold: a capacity crowd at the concert. [Middle English capacite, from Old French, from Latin capācitās, from capāx, capāc-, spacious; see capacious.]

Capacity

Ca*pac"i*ty\, 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.

Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together. --Shak.

The capacity of the exhausted cylinder. --Boyle.

2. The power of receiving and holding ideas, knowledge, etc.; the comprehensiveness of the mind; the receptive faculty; capability of undestanding or feeling.

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, favars this; although it can not be dented that there are examples of its usage in an active sense. --Sir W. Hamilton.

3. Ability; power pertaining to, or resulting from, the possession of strength, wealth, or talent; possibility of being or of doing.

The capacity of blessing the people. --Alex. Hamilton.

A cause with such capacities endued. --Blackmore.

4. Outward condition or circumstances; occupation; profession; character; position; as, to work in the capacity of a mason or a carpenter.

5. (Law) Legal or noral qualification, as of age, residence, character, etc., necessary for certain purposes, as for holding office, for marrying, for making contracts, will, etc.; legal power or right; competency.

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.

capacity 

Main Entry: ca·pac·i·ty
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ties
1 : a qualification, power, or ability (as to give consent or make a testament) created by operation of law
2 : an individual's ability or aptitude; especially : mental ability as it relates to responsibility for the commission of a crime (as murder) —see also DIMINISHED CAPACITY —compare COMPETENCY, INCAPACITY, INSANITY

Main Entry: ca·pac·i·ty
Pronunciation: k&-'pas-&t-E, -'pas-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ties
1 a : the ability to hold, receive, store, or accommodate b : a measure of content : the measured ability to contain : VOLUME capacity of one liter> —see VITAL CAPACITY c (1) : CAPACITANCE (2) : the quantity of electricity that abattery can deliver under specified conditions
2 : legal qualification, competency, power, or fitness
3 a : power to grasp and analyze ideas and cope withproblems b : blended power, strength, and ability capacity —Morris Fishbein>

capacity ca·pac·i·ty (kə-pās'ĭ-tē)
n.

1. The measure of potential cubic contents of a cavity or receptacle; volume.
2. Ability to perform or produce; capability.

capacity communications
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)