名词

1. 能力;才能
Your capacity for something is your ability to do it, or the amount of it that you are able to do.

2. (工厂、企业、地区的)生产量,生产（或运输）能力
The capacity of something such as a factory, industry, or region is the quantity of things that it can produce or deliver with the equipment or resources that are available.

3. （设备的）容量，功率，马力
The capacity of a piece of equipment is its size or power, often measured in particular units.

4. （容器的）容积，容量
The capacity of a container is its volume, or the amount of liquid it can hold, measured in units such as litres or gallons.

5. (建筑、地方、车辆的)可容纳人数,载客量
The capacity of a building, place, or vehicle is the number of people or things that it can hold. If a place is filled to capacity, it is as full as it can possibly be.

6. 座无虚席的;满场的;挤满的
A capacity crowd or audience completely fills a theatre, sports stadium, or other place.

7. 身份;职责;职位
If you do something in a particular capacity, you do it as part of a particular job or duty, or because you are representing a particular organization or person.

Do not confuse capacity with ability and capability. If someone has a particular capacity, a capacity for something, or a capacity to do something, they have the qualities required to do it. Capacity is a more formal word than ability. ...their capacity for hard work. ...his capacity to see the other person's point of view. You often use ability to say that someone can do something well. He had remarkable ability as a musician. ...the ability to bear hardship. A person's capability is the amount of work they can do and how well they can do it. ...a job that was beyond the capability of one man. ...the director's ideas of the capability of the actor.
不要混淆 capacity，ability 和 capability。capacity 比 ability 更加正式, 表示具有做某事所必需的特质: their capacity for hard work (他们能吃苦耐劳), his capacity to see the other person's point of view (他理解他人观点的能力)。ability 常用来表示能够做好某事: He had remarkable ability as a musician (他拥有杰出的音乐才华), the ability to bear hardship (承受苦难的能力)。capability 表示能完成的工作量及工作质量: a job that was beyond the capability of one man (个人力所不及的工作), the director's ideas of the capability of the actor (导演对那个演员演技的评价)。

1. a specified function

e.g. he was employed in the capacity of director
he should be retained in his present capacity at a higher salary

2. the maximum production possible

e.g. the plant is working at 80 per cent capacity

3. tolerance for alcohol

e.g. he had drunk beyond his capacity

4. capability to perform or produce

e.g. among his gifts is his capacity for true altruism
limited runway capacity
a great capacity for growth

5. the power to learn or retain knowledge
in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of your behavior

Synonym: mental ability

6. an electrical phenomenon whereby an electric charge is stored

Synonym: capacitanceelectrical capacity

7. (computer science) the amount of information (in bytes) that can be stored on a disk drive

e.g. the capacity of a hard disk drive is usually expressed in megabytes

8. the amount that can be contained

e.g. the gas tank has a capacity of 12 gallons

Synonym: content

9. the susceptibility of something to a particular treatment

e.g. the capability of a metal to be fused

Synonym: capability