capital & capitol

Way to go Mom (Horn that is)! I figured you would probably get the answer being an english major and all. Joe, of course, also knew the answer but I will cut him some slack on not leaving a comment since he's just flown across the country and is suffering jetlag. A simplified version of the answer is capitol refers to building(s) where legislation occurs. When capitalized (Capitol) it refers to the building in Washington DC. Capital is used for every other definition of using that word.