Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. linguistics A word that changes sound and meaning when the case is changed; a case-sensitive word.
Etymologies
- capital + -onym (Wiktionary)
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘capitonym’.
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Word Words
This used to be my nym list, but there are so many words about words, I think it's time to expand and open.
acronym, antonym, aptronym, autoantonym, autonym, bacronym, capitonym, contranym, contronym, eponym, exonym, heteronym and 120 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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Wordplay & Pun
wordplay, pound, conceit, clinch, joke, quibble, equivoque, double-entendre, quillet, calembour, carriwitchet, paranomasia and 90 more...
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Linguistic Terms
Words that (mostly) only linguists know.
arpabet, protologism, diacritic, macron, macaronic, capitonym, grapheme, boustrophedon, allograph, analphabetic, idiomatic, portmanteau and 40 more...
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Nyms
synonym, antonym, eudonym, retronym, homonym, womonym, ananym, aptronym, autoantonym, bacronym, capitonym, endonym and 16 more...
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know-it-all
eunuch, couvade, ecclesiastes, enigma, inevitable, crucible, genteel, bedlam, baculum, scapulimancy, atrophy, smut and 170 more...
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Phrases and words I didn't know
give up the ghost, ninja'd, coal-hole, hotting up, chancer, clave, salaryman, turf accountant, cremains, autoclave, hummingbird mind, gank and 174 more...
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botello360's list
ruminate, steel, bifurcation, arrivederci, portage, tactile, ruminant, rift, anecdotage, diacritic, cud, hull and 399 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3248 more...
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Grammar
Terms that would be good to know.
homonym, womonym, aptronym, autoantonym, bacronym, capitonym, exonym, heteronym, oronym, patronym, pseudonym, retronym and 62 more...
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Words I Had to Look Up
Words whose definitions or spellings I didn't know at first glance go here.
rogation, asthenosphere, imprecation, glossus, rhodomontade, aptronym, bacronym, capitonym, exonym, heteronym, oronym, retronym and 51 more...
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rduke's Words
misguggle, ken, sere, etiolated, gelid, digladiate, popinjay, bathykolpian, conglaciation, hyperborean, callipygian, vagile and 1253 more...
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Interesting Words 1
Some words that piqued my interest
catachresis, rhotacism, mytacism, metanalysis, logomachy, cacoepy, cacodoxy, sesquipedalian, acyrology, cacozelia, brachylogy, solecism and 11 more...
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List of onyms
womonym, typonym, troponym, trionym, toponym, tetronym, teknonym, taxonym, tautonym, Synonym, sideronym, retronym and 78 more...
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Language tricks
tom swiftie, spoonerism, transdeletion pyr..., runtogether, portmanteau, capitonym, isogram, calque
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Word shuffle
ostentatiously, angst, callipygian, capitonym, ridicule, imminent, diatribe, furtive, conjure, ebullient
Tweets
Looking for tweets for capitonym.

ruzuzu Oh, yay! Thanks to Wiktionary, we finally have an official definition for capitonym:
"Wiktionary (1 definition)–noun
(linguistics) A word that changes sound and meaning when the case is changed; a case-sensitive word."
The fox was right (of course)!*
*But I'm still going to pronounce lower-cased "capitonym" as captionym. (It's too late--I've already recorded it.) See Chile. Nov 5, 2010
ruzuzu See usage note on Chile. Mar 6, 2010
sionnach Not to be a contrarian or anything, but I always believed that, for a word to be a capitonym, both the meaning *and the pronunciation* had to change depending on capitalization.
Thus, reading and polish qualify, but john, for instance, does not. Nov 15, 2007
skipvia It means you're just not a typie. Nov 15, 2007
mollusque Does that mean I have to make up a definition for "pointsettia"? As soon as I entered it I saw my typo, but I just tagged it as a misspelling. Nov 15, 2007
reesetee Skipvia, apparently you haven't attended the University of Madeupical Etymology. There's still time to enroll! Nov 15, 2007
john skipvia... shhhh... just make up a definition, pretend you meant it! See captionym for my attempt. Nov 14, 2007
skipvia It's capitonym. Captionym is not a word. I mistyped the word originally and deleted it immediately when I realized my mistake. It's still showing up, however.
I hereby renounce all claim to being a Wordie. Nov 14, 2007
chained_bear Not to be a killjoy, but... is this capitonym, or captionym? (The pronuncation is different depending on where the I is.) Nov 14, 2007
skipvia Words that have a different meaning depending on capitalization, such as polish and Polish. Nov 14, 2007