1. Capability to perform or produce
   "a great capacity for growth"; "among his gifts is his capacity for true altruism"; "limited runway capacity"
    
2. The amount that can be contained
   "the gas tank has a capacity of 12 gallons";
   - content
    
3. The susceptibility of something to a particular treatment
   "the capacity of a metal to be fused";
   - capability
    
4. The power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of your behaviour
   "The court assessed the defendant's capacity to stand trial";
   - mental ability
    
5. The maximum production possible
   "the plant is working at 80 per cent capacity"
    
6. A specified function
   "he was employed in the capacity of director"; "he should be retained in his present capacity at a higher salary"
    
7. (computing) the amount of information (in bytes) that can be stored on a disk drive
   "the capacity of a hard disk drive is usually expressed in megabytes"
    
8. An electrical phenomenon whereby an electric charge is stored
   "The electrical capacity of a battery determines how long it can power a device";
   - capacitance, electrical capacity
    
9. Tolerance for alcohol
   "he had drunk beyond his capacity"

Derived forms: capacities

Type of: ability, capability, capableness, electrical phenomenon, function, indefinite quantity, office, part, power, production, role, susceptibility, susceptibleness, tolerance, volume

Antonym: incapacity

Encyclopedia: Capacity