capsule

See also: capsulé

English

Etymology

Borrowing from French capsule, from Latin capsula, diminutive of capsa (“box”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkæps(ə)l/
• (UK, Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈkæpsjuːl/

Noun

capsule (plural capsules)

1. (physiology) A membranous envelope.
2. (botany) A type of simple, dehiscent, dry fruit (seed-case) produced by many species of flowering plants, such as poppy, lily, orchid, willow and cotton.
3. (botany) A sporangium, especially in bryophytes.
   • 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page 4-5

     The epidermal cells of the capsule wall of Jubulopsis, with nodose "trigones" at the angles, are very reminiscent of what one finds in Frullania spp.

4. A detachable part of a rocket or spacecraft (usually in the nose) containing the crew's living space.
5. (pharmacy) A small container containing a dose of medicine.
6. (dialectal, Britain, Suffolk) A weasel.
7. (attributively, figuratively) in a brief, condensed or compact form
   • 1962, John F. Kennedy, We choose to go to the moon:

     If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred.

8. (winemaking) The covering — formerly lead or tin, now often plastic — over the cork at the top of the wine bottle.
9. (chemistry, dated) A small clay saucer for roasting or melting samples of ores, etc.; a scorifier.
10. A small, shallow evaporating dish, usually of porcelain.
11. A small cup or shell, often of metal, for a percussion cap, cartridge, etc.

Derived terms

• capsular
• capsule review
• Glissonian capsule

Translations

physiology: membranous envelope

• Catalan: càpsula (ca) f
• Finnish: kotelo (fi)
• German: Kapsel (de) f
• Greek: κάψα (el) f (kápsa)

• Persian: کپسول‏‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: cápsula (pt) f
• Russian: ка́псула (ru) f (kápsula)

botany: seed-case

• Bulgarian: шушулка (bg) f (šušulka)
• Catalan: càpsula (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 蒴果 (zh) (shuòguǒ)

• Czech: tobolka f
• Finnish: kota (fi)
• French: capsule (fr) f

• German: Kapsel (de) f
• Greek: κάψα (el) f (kápsa)
• Japanese: 蒴果 (さくか, sakuka)
• Latvian: pogaļa (lv) f
• Portuguese: cápsula (pt) f
• Russian: коро́бочка (ru) f (koróbočka)
• Tagalog: damladbunga

part of spacecraft containing crew's living space

• Bulgarian: капсула f (kapsula)
• Catalan: càpsula (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 太空囊 (tàikōngnáng)

• Finnish: kapseli
• French: capsule (fr) f
• German: Kapsel (de) f

• Greek: θαλαμίσκος (el) m (thalamískos)
• Japanese: カプセル (ja) (kapuseru)
• Korean: 캡슐 (kaepsyul)
• Persian: کپسول‏‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: cápsula (pt) f
• Russian: ка́псула (ru) f (kápsula)
• Tagalog: litsidlan

small container containing a dose of medicine

• Bulgarian: капсула f (kapsula)
• Catalan: càpsula (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 膠囊 (zh), 胶囊 (zh) (jiāonáng)

• Czech: kapsle f, tobolka f
• Finnish: kapseli
• French: capsule (fr) f, gélule (fr) f
• German: Kapsel (de) f
• Greek: κάψα (el) f (kápsa), κάψουλα (el) f (kápsoula)
• Icelandic: hylki (is) n
• Indonesian: kapsul (id)

• Japanese: カプセル (ja) (kapuseru)
• Javanese: kapsul
• Korean: 캡슐 (kaepsyul)
• Persian: کپسول‏‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: cápsula (pt) f
• Russian: ка́псула (ru) f (kápsula)
• Slovak: kapsula f
• Slovene: kápsula (sl) f
• Spanish: cápsula (es)
• Vietnamese: viên thuốc con nhộng

weasel — see weasel

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} kapsulo

Verb

capsule (third-person singular simple present capsules, present participle capsuling, simple past and past participle capsuled)

1. (transitive) To form (medicine, etc.) into capsules.
2. (transitive) To encapsulate or summarize.

Anagrams

• laces up, scale up, scaleup, specula, upscale

---

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French capsule, from Latin capsula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌkɑpˈsy.lə/
• Hyphenation: cap‧su‧le
• Rhymes: -ylə

Noun

capsule f (plural capsules, diminutive capsuletje n)

1. (medicine, pharmacy) encapsulation containing drugs or supplements
2. cover over the cork and opening of a bottle

---

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin capsula.

Noun

capsule f (plural capsules)

1. capsule
2. bottle cap
3. cap or primer for a gun

Further reading

• “capsule” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• spécula

---

Italian

Noun

capsule f

1. plural of capsula

Anagrams

• lupesca
• specula

---

Spanish

Verb

capsule

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of capsular.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of capsular.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of capsular.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of capsular.