容纳 is a transitive verb meaning 'to accommodate' or 'to contain' — referring to the capacity of a space, container, or system to hold people, objects, or abstract things like ideas or emotions. The first character 容 means 'to permit' or 'to tolerate', and the second 纳 means 'to receive' or 'to take in'; together, they emphasize the act of actively accepting and fitting something within defined limits. It’s commonly used for physical spaces (e.g., rooms, stadiums, vehicles) but also appears in formal or technical contexts like urban planning, engineering, or policy discussions about resource limits.

This word carries a neutral-to-formal register and is rarely used in casual speech — you’ll more often hear 装 (zhuāng) or 放 (fàng) for everyday 'holding' or 'putting'. 容纳 implies a measurable upper limit: if something 'cannot accommodate' more, it’s at capacity. It does not suggest comfort or convenience — only structural or functional capacity — so it’s often paired with numbers or quantifiers (e.g., 可容纳50人).