world capital
1
3.5
- noun
- /wɜrld ˈkæpɪtl/
:
capital mundial
- New York City is widely regarded as the world capital of finance due to its major stock exchanges.
Examples
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Professor Palladino was awarded his doctorate of philosophy in Padua in nineteen eighty-five, and he has taught and lectured in Naples, Paris, and many other world capitals.
Fiction book (1991) -
Tehran is the world capital.
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Supporters see the program as beautifying the city and bringing Bamako in line with other world capitals, where elaborate sculptural displays commemorate heroic national histories.
Academic text (2003) -
Paris is often considered the world capital of fashion, hosting events like Fashion Week every year.
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Tokyo has established itself as the world capital of technology, home to many leading tech companies.
How Important
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'world' (= global) modifies 'capital' (= leading/central city), yielding 'a global centre/leading city' in a domain. The shift from political 'capital' to a figurative 'centre' of a field is a common, cross-linguistic extension and follows normal modifier+noun patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
World capital comes from the simple image of a capital, a 'main city', whose influence reaches the world. Imagine a city that draws people, money and ideas from everywhere. That's why we call a city the 'world capital' of fashion, finance or art.