Editor's Corner

Just the other day, someone asked me if a capital idea was spelled “capital” or “capitol.” Here is a tidbit on that topic from The Grammar Devotional, by Mignon Fogarty:

A Capital Idea: Capital Versus Capitol

When the noun capitol ends with an ol, it’s referring to buildings—state capitol buildings or the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. You can remember that the rotunda of the D.C. Capitol building is round like the letter o.

Capital refers to (among other things) uppercase letters, wealth, or a city that is the seat of government for its region or is important in some way. Don’t get confused by the fact that capital with an al is used for a capital city and capitol with an ol is used for a capitol building. Just remember the o is round like a building’s rotunda.

U.S. Capitol Rotunda (Located below the Capitol Dome)

U.S. Capitol Dome

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory