capitol

The word 'capitol' has a direct lineage from Latin Capitōlium, the name of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hill, one of the city's seven hills. The name of the hill itself, Capitōlium, is derived from caput (head), possibly because it was the religious and symbolic "head" of the Roman state. When the founders of the United States sought a name for the building housing the national legislature, they adopted 'Capitol', evoking the ideals of republican Rome and establishing the building as the symbolic head of the new government. This usage was later extended to the buildings housing individual state legislatures.

Structure: capit (head) + ol (place suffix) 'capit' is from Latin caput, capitis meaning "head". '-ol' is a diminutive or relational suffix from Latin -olus, -ola, -olum, often indicating a place or small version.