A capitonym is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized, and usually applies to capitalization due to proper nouns or eponyms. It is a portmanteau of the word capital with the suffix -onym. A capitonym is a form of homograph and — when the two forms are pronounced differently — also of heteronym. In situations where both words should be capitalized (such as the beginning of a sentence), there will be nothing to distinguish between them. A proper noun is a noun that picks out a unique entity. ... An eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, who has (or is thought to have) given rise to the name of a particular place, tribe, discovery, or other item. ... A portmanteau (IPA pronunciation: RP, US) is a word or morpheme that fuses two or more words or word parts to give a combined or loaded meaning. ... Words in English with the suffix -onym (from the Greek onoma which means name) refer to words with a particular property. ... Look up homonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up homonym in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Although some pairs, such as march and March, are completely unrelated, in other cases, such as august and catholic, the capitalized form is a name which is etymologically related to the uncapitalized form. For example, August derives from the name of Imperator Augustus, who named himself after the word augustus, whence English august. And both Catholic and catholic derive from a Greek adjective meaning "universal". Pairs in which one word is simply a secondary meaning of the other — e.g. Masonry (secret society), which is essentially a peculiar use of the word masonry (wall building) — are omitted.

In other languages there are more, or less, of these pairs depending on that language's capitalization rules. For example, in German, where all nouns are capitalized, there are many pairs, such as Laut (sound) ~ laut (loud) or Morgen (morning) ~ morgen (tomorrow). In contrast, in Italian, as well as Spanish, almost no words (except proper names) are capitalized, not even months, weekdays nor ethnical adjectives, so there are extremely few, if any, such pairs. (An example is Messa (Mass) ~ messa (feminine past participe of mettere = to put), though the former is sometimes spelled with a lowercase m too.) In linguistics, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ...

Some question the correctness of certain case-sensitive distinctions that others make. Examples are church (a building) and Church (an organization), mass (physical quantity) and Mass (liturgical function). In the Soviet Union, it was forbidden to write God with an upper-case letter, making impossible this manner of distinguishing God (the being believed to create and rule the universe) from god (one of beings believed to control some part of the universe).[1] Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... Acacia senegal plant from Koehlers Medicinal-Plants 1887 Gum arabic, a natural gum also called gum acacia, is a substance that is taken from two sub-Saharan species of the acacia tree, Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal. ... In Greek mythology, Ares (Ancient Greek: , modern Greek Άρης [pron. ... An are (symbol a) is a unit of area, equal to 100 square meters (10 m × 10 m), used for measuring land area. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Boxing Day is a public holiday observed in many Commonwealth countries on 26 December. ... is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For other senses of these words, see boxing (disambiguation) or boxer (disambiguation). ... A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy. ... A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy. ... “Catholic Church” redirects here. ... This article is about the European people. ... A cuban prime is a prime number that is a solution to one of two different specific equations involving third powers of x and y. ... Edgar Degas (July 19, 1834 - September 27, 1917) was a French painter and sculptor. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Location of Ionia Ionia (Greek Ιωνία; see also list of traditional Greek place names) was an ancient region of southwestern coastal Anatolia (in present-day Turkey, the region nearest Ä°zmir,) on the Aegean Sea. ... Architects first real look at the Greek Ionic order: Julien David LeRoy, Les ruines plus beaux des monuments de la Grèce Paris, 1758 (Plate XX) Ionic order: 1 - entrablature, 2 - column, 3 - cornice, 4 - frieze, 5 - architrave or epistyle, 6 - capital (composed of abacus and volutes), 7 - shaft, 8... This article is about the electrically charged particle. ... William Blakes imagining of Satan inflicting boils on Job. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In the Western Christian calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. ... This article is about the Christian festival. ... Nickname: Motto: Hoc signum vere regum est Lima Province and Lima within Peru Coordinates: , Country  Peru Region Lima Region Province Lima Province Settled January 18, 1535 Government  - Mayor Luis Castañeda Lossio Area  - City 804. ... Binomial name Phaseolus lunatus L. The lima bean or butter bean, (Phaseolus lunatus, Fabaceae) is grown as a vegetable for its mature and immature beans. ... Mousehole Harbour See Mousehole (drilling) for the drilling term Mousehole (pronounced /Mauzl; in Cornish Porthynys) is a fishing village near Newlyn in Cornwall, United Kingdom, reputed to have one of the most beautiful harbours in the country. ... KwaZulu-Natal, often referred to as KZN, is a province of South Africa. ... Nickname: Location of Natal Country Region State Rio Grande do Norte Founded 25 December 1599 Government  - Mayor Carlos Eduardo(PSB) Area  - City 170. ... Parturition redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Mount Rainier (disambiguation). ... Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005), styled His Serene Highness The Sovereign Prince of Monaco, ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost fifty-six years, making him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century. ... , Reading is a town, unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in the English county of Berkshire. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Reading is a process of retrieving and comprehending some form of stored information or ideas. ... It has been suggested that History of rodeo be merged into this article or section. ... Scone is a large village, a mile north of Perth, Scotland. ... The Stone of Scone, (pronounced scoon) also commonly known as the Stone of Destiny or the Coronation Stone (though the former name sometimes refers to Lia Fáil) is a block of sandstone historically kept at the now-ruined abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland. ... Scones with honey. ... SEAT (IPA: ) is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded in 1950 and now subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. ... SEAT (IPA: ) is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded in 1950 and now subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. ... Slough (pronounced ) is a town and unitary authority (Borough of Slough) in England. ... This article is about the various versions of the television series The Office, comparing the UK, US, French, German, and French Canadian versions. ... The term slough (in the UK, pronounced to rhyme with cow; In the US, pronounced slew) has several meanings related to wetland or aquatic features that seem to derive from local experience. ...

Examples in poems

The following poems, of unknown origin, are examples of the use of capitonyms:

Job's Job
In August, an august patriarch
Was reading an ad in Reading, Mass.
Long-suffering Job secured a job
To polish piles of Polish brass.

Herb's Herbs
A herb store owner, name of Herb,
Moved to a rainier Mount Rainier.
It would have been so nice in Nice,
And even tangier in Tangier.