# Handbook of style in use at the Riverside Press/Capitalization

CAPITALIZATION
Capitalize—
Proper nouns and adjectives derived from proper nouns; as, John, Germany, Victorian, French.
    Words of common usage, originally proper names, and their derivatives, in whose present, generalized acceptation the origin has become obscured, and generally all verbs derived from proper names, are not capitalized; as, utopia, china, bohemian, philistine, titanic, platonic, quixotic, bonanza, morocco, vandal, procrustean, macadamize, christianize; also adjectives and verbs derived from proper names, and ending with ed, ify, ing, ize, etc., such as anglicized, frenchified, romanized, gallicized, etc.
Epithets used as substitutes for proper names, or affixed to names; as, the Pretender, Alexander the Great, Richard the Lion-hearted.
The preposition preceding proper names in foreign languages, such as van, von, de, d’, da, della, di; as, Van Rensselaer, Von Martius, De Thou, D’Orsay, Da Ponte, Della Crusca, Di Cesnola.
    Do not capitalize these prepositions when they are preceded by a forename, except in the case of Van; as, Charles de Blé, Cardinal da Ponte, Marquis de Lafayette, M. de Thou, M. d’Orbigny, Señor de Ysnaga, etc. Note that Van is always capitalized in Dutch names, and that von is never capitalized in German names, following a forename, as Stephen Van Rensselaer, Hugo von Martius. The usage, however, varies with English and American family names having a foreign origin. For example, Thomas De Quincey, Henry van Dyke (author).
All official titles, civil and military, and all titles of nobility or honor, when preceding the name; as, King George, President Wilson, General Miles, Admiral Evans, Governor Foss, Secretary Bryan, Sir Edward Grey, the Earl of Derby, Bishop Brooks, Deacon Smith; the titles President, King, Emperor (Kaiser), Czar, Sultan, and Pope, when standing alone, if they refer to the present rulers or incumbents; distinctive titles attached by law or custom to certain offices or dignities, used without the name of the person, ​whether in direct address or otherwise; as His Majesty, Her Grace, His Holiness, Your Excellency, Your Honor, Your Lordship; words indicating relationship, when used with the name of the person addressed or spoken of; as, Father William, Mother Hubbard, Brother James, Aunt Mary, Uncle John.
In the case of governmental officers, the title when following the name; as, William H. Taft, President of the United States; George V, King of England; Eugene N. Foss, Governor of Massachusetts.
Titles like Ph.D., M.P., and F.R.G.S. (such abbreviations to be set without space between the letters).
Adjectives and nouns used, singly or in conjunction, to distinguish definite regions or parts of the world; as, Old World, Western Hemisphere, North Pole, Equator, Bad Lands, Cherokee Strip, Continental Divide, the North, South, East, West, Middle West, Central West, Northwest, Orient, Occident, the Continent (continental Europe).
Sections of the world, as, Circle, Hemisphere, and Pole, when preceded by a name; also the Antarctic, the Arctic, Free Zone, Frigid Zone.
The following terms, singular or plural forms, when immediately following a name or when part of a name: Aqueduct, Archipelago, Bay, Bayou, Branch, Building, Butte, Camp, Canal, Canyon, Cape, County, Crater, Creek, Dalles, Desert, Dome, Draw, Falls, Fork, Fort, Gap, Glacier, Gulch, Harbor, Head, Hill, Hollow, Island, Isle, Mesa, Mount, Mountain, Narrows, Oasis, Ocean, Parish, Park, Pass, Peak, Plateau, Point, Port, Range, Reservoir, Ridge, River, Run, Sea, Shoal, Spring, Square, Strait, Street, Tunnel, Valley, Volcano.
    But words of this class, when simply added by way of description to the specific name, without forming an organic part of such name, are not capitalized; as, the river Charles, the island of Cuba.
The following terms when standing alone and used as synonyms for well-known geographical names; also when used as adjectives: Canal Zone (Panama), Delta (of the Mississippi or the Nile), Falls (Niagara), Gulf (of Mexico), Isthmus (of Panama or Suez), Lakes (Great Lakes), Sound (Long Island), Peninsula (Spain).
Generic terms for political divisions:—
    (a) When the term is an organic part of the name; as, ​
    Holy Roman Empire, German Empire, French Republic, Indian Territory, Middlesex County, City of Mexico, New York City, Washington City.
    (b) When, with the preposition of, it is used as an integral part of the name, or to indicate certain administrative subdivisions in the United States; as, Empire of Russia, Duchy of Anhalt, State of Massachusetts, Borough of the Bronx (but the boroughs of Greater New York).
    (c) When used singly as the accepted designation for a specific division, as, the Union, the States, the Republic, the Dominion (of Canada).
    (d) When it is part of a fanciful or popular appellation used as if it were a real geographical name; as, Keystone State, Garden City, Holy Land, etc.
Titles of specific charters, treaties, statutes, etc.; as, Magna Charta, Constitution (of the United States, when standing alone or referred to as a document), Articles of Confederation, Bill of Rights, Treaty of Paris, Statute of Frauds, Interstate Commerce Act.
Conventions, congresses, expositions, etc.; as, Council of Nice, Parliament of Religions, Peace Congress, Louisiana Purchase Exposition.
Government and Administration, used as nouns, when referring to a definite group of officials exercising executive or administrative powers, or when used to indicate the legislative, executive, and judicial powers taken together; the word State or States, when used as a noun, referring to any of the States of the United States, or to a subdivision of any foreign country having the title State; but state and government, when used as adjectives, as in state election, government monopoly, should not be capitalized.
The names of all governmental departments and their branches, and of all legislative, judicial, and administrative bodies; as, the Executive, the Department of Justice, the Treasury Department, the Cabinet, Congress, Parliament, the Reichstag, the Corps Législatif, the Senate, the House (of Representatives or Commons), the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the Census Bureau, the Interstate Commerce Commission.
Synonyms of the flag of a nation; as, the Stars and Stripes, ​Star-Spangled Banner, Old Glory, the Lilies of France, the Union Jack, etc.
The names of political parties, religious denominations or sects, and philosophical, literary, and artistic schools, and their adherents; as, Republican, Whig, Mugwump, Christian, Catholic, High Churchman, Theosophist, Pharisee, Gentile, Boxer, Epicurean, Realist, Impressionist.
    Do not capitalize such words as socialist, abolitionist, anarchist, etc., in their general sense, but only as applied to a distinct party organization or sect.
Political alliances, and such terms from secular or ecclesiastical history as have, through their associations, acquired special significance as designations for parties, classes, movements, etc.; as, Protestant League, Holy Alliance, Dreibund, the Roses, Roundheads, Cavaliers, Papacy (but papal), Independents, Nonconformists).
The official titles of civil, military, social, religious, educational, political, commercial, and industrial organizations and institutions; as, Exchange Club, Associated Press, New York Central Railroad, Ninth Regiment, Sixth Corps, Third Battery of Field Artillery, Knights of Pythias, Knights Templars, Associated Charities, Paris Lyceum, Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor, English High School, Masons’ Union No. 27.
Ordinals used to designate Egyptian dynasties, sessions of Congress, political divisions, etc.: as, Eighteenth Dynasty, Fifty-fourth Congress, Ninth Congressional District, Second Ward.
Nouns and adjectives used to designate the Supreme Being or Power, or any member of the Christian Trinity (except in extracts from the Bible); as, God, Lord, Creator, Father, the Almighty, the Infinite, the All-Wise, Infinite One, Supreme Being, Most High, Everlasting Father, etc.; also Heaven and Providence (when they are synonymous with the Deity, but not otherwise), Saviour, the Messiah, the Anointed, the Son, Son of Man, Redeemer, Holy One, Master, Holy Trinity, Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, Virgin Mary, Holy Virgin, Mother of God.
    But do not capitalize such expressions and derivatives as: (God’s) fatherhood, (Jesus’) sonship, messianic hope, christological (but Christology).
The pronouns Thee, Thou, He, Him, referring to God or the Saviour, except in extracts from the Bible; but do not capitalize thine and his.
​ The word church when representing organized Christianity, or when part of the name of a sect, congregation, or building; as, Church of Rome, Church of England, High Church, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, First Methodist Church.
Names for the Bible and other sacred books; as, Word of God, Scriptures, Koran, Gospel. Also versions of the Bible; as, King James’s Version, Revised Version, etc. Books and divisions of the Bible and other sacred books; as, Old and New Testament, Book of Job, Beatitudes, etc. Biblical parables; as, the parable of the Prodigal Son; and such miscellaneous terms as the Ten Commandments, Sermon on the Mount, Lord’s Supper, Golden Rule, etc.; such adjectives as Biblical, Koranic, Vedic, etc.
    Do not capitalize words like book, gospel, epistle, psalm, in such connections as the five books of Moses, the first forty psalms, etc.
Creeds and confessions of faith; as, Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, Augsburg Confession, Thirty-nine Articles.
The names of monastic orders and their members; as, Black Friars, Trappists, Jesuits.
Names applied to a personal being supposed to be the incarnation of evil (but not when used as an expletive or as a general name for any demon); as, Devil, Evil One, Old Boy, Satan, the Fiend, Archfiend, etc.
Geological terms, as, Cretaceous, Jurassic, Miocene, etc.
The scientific (Latin or latinized) names of classes, orders, families, and genera. In the names of species and subspecies, consisting respectively of two and three parts, the first part (the generic name) is always capitalized; in zoölogy the second and third parts (the specific and subspecific names) are never capitalized even when derived from a proper noun. In botany usage varies in respect to specific and subspecific names which are proper nouns or proper adjectives or taken from the names of genera, and copy should be followed; but the first part is always capitalized, and the others usually not. Examples: Vertebrata, Reptilia, Felis leo, Falco columbarus richardsoni; Clematis Virginiana; Pinus rigida.
In astronomical work, the names of the bodies of our solar system (except sun, earth, moon, stars); as, the Milky Way, the Great Bear, etc.
​ Commonly accepted appellations for historical epochs, periods in the history of a language or literature; as, Renaissance, Middle Ages, The Crusades, Restoration, Inquisition, Commune.
Names for important events; as, Revolutionary War, the Revolution, Mexican War, the Rebellion, Civil War, Spanish-American War, the Creation, the Flood, the Fall, Louisiana Purchase.
Civic and ecclesiastical feast-days; as, Washington’s Birthday, Fourth of July (the Fourth), Memorial Day, Easter, Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, New Year’s Day, Lord’s Day, Founder's Day, Commencement Day, Good Friday, Black Friday (a famous day).
Nature, Fortune, and similar words when personified.
The pronoun I and the interjection O, but not the form oh.
The first word of direct quotations; as, He said, “In fine, nothing is said now that has not been said before”; also, of sentences, not direct quotations, but written in that form, as, The question is, Shall the bill pass?
Nouns and adjectives only, in tables of contents, headings, etc.
In titles of books, plays, etc., as a rule, nouns and adjectives only. In exceptional cases, such as, What Will He Do with It, The Men Who Made the Nation, it may be better to capitalize all the words in the title except the prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.
    In citing names of periodicals, as, the Boston Post, the Springfield Republican, etc., the article the is not to be included as a part of the name.
The second element of a compound word, if a noun, when the first element is capitalized; otherwise not. When a title is double, and its component parts are connected by a hyphen, as in Major-General, both words are to be capitalized.
The names and epithets of peoples, races, and tribes; as, Kafir, Hottentot, Creole, Caucasian, Negro, etc., but gypsy, quadroon, etc,