capsule

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A membranous envelope.
  2. 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. A sporangium, especially in bryophytes.
  4. A tough, fibrous layer surrounding an organ such as the kidney or liver
  5. A membrane that surrounds the eyeball
  6. A detachable part of a rocket or spacecraft (usually in the nose) containing the crew's living space.
  7. A small container containing a dose of medicine.
  8. in a brief, condensed or compact form
  9. The covering — formerly lead or tin, now often plastic — over the cork at the top of the wine bottle.
  10. A small clay saucer for roasting or melting samples of ores, etc.; a scorifier.
  11. A small, shallow evaporating dish, usually of porcelain.
  12. A small cup or shell, often of metal, for a percussion cap, cartridge, etc.
verb
  1. To form (medicine, etc.) into capsules.
  2. To encapsulate or summarize.

Pronunciation

/ˈkæps(ə)l/ /ˈkæpsjuːl/ /ˈkæpʃuːl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-capsule.wav

Word forms

capsule capsules capsuling capsuled

Etymology

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

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.