Capitalistic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to or based on an economic system in which private individuals and businesses own capital and means of production, operating primarily for profit rather than collective benefit
2. Pertaining to an economic framework where private ownership of resources and production means prevails, aiming for profit generation over communal welfare
3. Associated with an economic model characterized by individual possession and control of resources and production, with a focus on profit rather than shared benefits

Etymology: Capitalist was already in use in English when capitalistic appeared, and the newer word seems to have been borrowed in form from German, where "kapitalistisch" was the existing adjective. The adjective is built from "capitalist" plus the suffix "-ic", which turns a noun for a person or system into a description of something that shares its character. The noun itself traces back to "capital", whose ultimate source is the Latin "caput", meaning "head", and that same head sense underlies the idea of capital as the principal sum or stock of wealth, the "head" of a fortune. The adjective therefore describes things that are organised around that accumulated stock: a "capitalistic" economy is one in which owners of capital seek returns on it. Its sense is essentially a plain one, meaning driven by profit, with no special twist beyond the original logic of capital as a head of wealth.

Synonyms: capitalist, mercantile, entrepreneurial, commercial, profit-driven

Antonyms: socialist, communist, collectivist, nonprofit, altruistic