The lexical roots of the word '''capital''' reveal roots in the trade and ownership of animals. The [[Latin]] root of the word '''capital''' is ''capitalis'', from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|proto-Indo-European]] ''kaput'', which means "head", this being how wealth was measured. The more heads of cattle, the better. The terms ''chattel'' (meaning goods, animals, or slaves) and even ''cattle'' itself also derive from this same origin.
The lexical connections between animal trade and economics can also be seen in the names of many currencies and words about money: fee (''faihu''), rupee (''rupya''), buck (a deerskin), pecuniary (''pecu''), stock (''livestock''), and peso (''pecu'' or ''pashu'') all derive from animal-trade origins.
The first use of the word "capitalism" in English is by [[William Makepeace Thackeray|Thackeray]] in [[1854]], by which he meant having ownership of capital. In [[1867]] [[Proudhon]] used the term "capitalist" to refer to owners of capital, and Marx and Engels refer to the "Capitalist production system" and in ''[[Das Kapital]]'' to ''"Kapitalisten"'', "capitalists" (meaning the private owners of the means of production). By the early [[20th century]] the term had become widespread, as evidenced by [[Max Weber]]'s use of the term in his ''[[The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism]]'' in [[1904]], and [[Werner Sombart]]'s [[1906]] ''Modern Capitalism''. The [[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]] cites the use of the term "private capitalism" by [[Karl Daniel Adolf Douai]], German-American [[socialism|socialist]] and [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] in the late [[19th century]], in an [[1877]] work entitled "Better Times", and a citation by an unknown author in [[1884]] in the pages of [[Pall Mall]] magazine.
Under the [[Marxist theory]] of [[ideology]], a dominant economic class is believed to have its own ideology serving its class interests. The ideology of the "capitalist class" or [[bourgeoisie]] -- economic [[liberalism]] -- also came to be known as "capitalism", giving the word another meaning. This usage has been adopted outside of Marxist circles, and today many economic liberals self-describe as "capitalists", even if they are not personally involved in business investment.
