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

• (America) IPA: /ˈkæps(ə)l/
• (RP) IPA: /ˈkæpsjuːl/
• (Australia) IPA: /ˈkæpʃuːl/

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[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, pages 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. (anatomy) A tough, fibrous layer surrounding an organ such as the kidney or liver
5. (anatomy) A membrane that surrounds the eyeball
6. (astronautics) A detachable part of a rocket or spacecraft (usually in the nose) containing the crew's living space.
7. (pharmacy) A small container containing a dose of medicine.
8. (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.

9. (winemaking) The covering — formerly lead or tin, now often plastic — over the cork at the top of the wine bottle.
10. (chemistry, dated) 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.
13. One of the very small rooms for guests in a capsule hotel.

    Synonyms: pod

• French: capsule
• German: Kapsel
• Portuguese: cápsula
• Russian: ка́псула
• Spanish: cápsula

• French: capsule
• German: Kapsel
• Italian: capsula
• Portuguese: cápsula
• Russian: коро́бочка
• Spanish: cápsula

• French: capsule
• German: Kapsel
• Portuguese: cápsula
• Russian: ка́псула
• Spanish: cápsula

• French: capsule, gélule
• German: Kapsel
• Italian: capsula
• Portuguese: cápsula
• Russian: ка́псула
• Spanish: cápsula
• Tagalog: kapsula

• Spanish: cápsula

capsule (capsules, present participle capsuling; simple past and past participle capsuled)

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