per capita
[ per kap-i-tuh ]
/ pər ˈkæp ɪ tə /
adjective, adverb
by or for each individual person: income per capita.
Law.
noting or pertaining to a method of dividing an estate by which all those equally related to the decedent take equal shares individually without regard to the number of lines of descent.
Compare per stirpes.
Origin of per capita
1675–85; < Latin: literally, by heads
Words nearby per capita
per,
per an.,
per annum,
per anum,
per ardua ad astra,
per capita,
per cent,
per centum,
per contiguum,
per continuum,
per contra
Example sentences from the Web for per capita
British Dictionary definitions for per capita
per capita
/ (pə ˈkæpɪtə) /
adjective, adverb
of or for each person
Word Origin for per capita
Latin, literally: according to heads
Cultural definitions for per capita
per capita
[ (puhr kap-i-tuh) ]
A Latin phrase literally meaning “by heads,” and translated as “for each person.” It is a common unit for expressing data in statistics. A country's per capita personal income, for example, is the average personal income per person.