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A capitonym is a word whose meaning, grammatical class, and often phonetic pronunciation changes fundamentally when its initial letter is capitalized (e.g. "polish" vs. "Polish", or "turkey" vs. "Turkey").
Capitonyms represent a unique intersection of orthography and semantic divergence. The term was coined in the late 20th century. When capitalization alters pronunciation as well as meaning (e.g., lowercase "polish" /ˈpɒlɪʃ/ vs. proper noun "Polish" /ˈpoʊlɪʃ/), the word is also a heteronym. When pronunciation remains identical (e.g., "turkey" the fowl vs. "Turkey" the country), it is an invariant capitonym.
Test any word to check if initial capitalization changes its definition:
Verified English words exemplifying capitonyms (case-sensitive shift words) with Scrabble scores
Linguistic definitions, etymological origins, and tournament usage
A capitonym is a word whose definition changes when capitalized. For example, "polish" (to shine) becomes "Polish" (relating to Poland).