Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CA-PAC'ITY, n. [L. capacitas, from capax, capio; Fr. capacité.]

1. Passive power; the power of containing, or holding; extent of room or space; as, the capacity of a vessel, or a cask.
2. The extent or comprehensiveness of the mind; the power of receiving ideas or knowledge; as, let instruction be adapted to the capacities of youth.
3. Active power; ability; applied to men or things; but less common and correct. The world does not include a cause endued with such capacities. – Blackmore.
4. State; condition; character; profession; occupation. A man may act in the capacity of a mechanic, of a friend, of an attorney, or of a statesman. He may have a natural or a political capacity.
5. Ability in a moral or legal sense; qualification; legal power or right; as, a man or a corporation may have a capacity to give or receive and hold estate.
6. In geometry, the solid contents of a body.
7. In chimistry, that state, quality or constitution of bodies, by which they absorb and contain, or render latent, any fluid; as the capacity of water for caloric.