▪ I. capsule, n. (and a.)
(ˈkæpsjuːl)
Also 7 capsul; and in Latin form capsula, pl. -æ.
[a. F. capsule, ad. L. capsula small box or case, dim. of capsa box, repository.]
A. n.
† 1. gen. A little case or receptacle. Obs.
| 1652 Urquhart Jewel Wks. (1834) 233 Brought their disorderly raised spirits into their former capsuls. 1713 Derham Phys.-Theol. x. note 1 (R.) The little cases or capsules which contain the seed in this species [the fern]. |
2. Phys. A membranous integument or envelope; a bag or sac. capsule of Tenon, Tenon's capsule (Tenonian a.).
| a 1693 Urquhart Rabelais iii. xxxi. 262 The left Capsul of the Heart. 1738 Med. Ess. & Observ. (ed. 2) IV. 193 When this Capsule is opened the Crystalline escapes. 1804 Abernethy Surg. Obs. 13 The tumour will..acquire for itself a kind of capsule. 1855 Owen Skel. & Teeth 7 The capsule of the eye-ball..is a fibrous membrane. 1866 Huxley Phys. v. The tubules [of the kidney]..terminate in dilatations..called Malpighian capsules. 1867 Amer. Jrnl. Med. Sci. July 241 The capsule of Tenon,..which incloses the whole eyeball, with the exception of the cornea, consists of two very different portions. 1884 [see capsulitis]. 1964 S. Duke-Elder Parsons' Dis. Eye (ed. 14) x. 112 At the time of an operation after the capsule of Tenon has been opened. |
3. Bot. a. A dry dehiscent seed-vessel, containing one or more cells, and opening when ripe by the separation of its valves. b. Applied to certain kinds of perithecia or receptacles in Fungi.
| 1693 A. van Leeuwenhoek in Phil. Trans. XVII. 706 So soon as the Capsula breaks upon the ripening of the Seed. 1776 Withering Bot. Arrangem. (1796) I. 96 A Capsule with two boat-shaped Valves, and one Cell; the Valves opening length-ways. 1830 Lindley Nat. Syst. Bot. 182 The dehiscence of their capsule. 1874 Lubbock Wild Flowers iii. 77 The seed capsules, when ripe, burst open if touched. |
4. Chem. A shallow saucer, for roasting samples of ores, or for evaporating.
| 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., Capsula, in chymistry, is an earthen vessel, in form of a pan; wherein things are frequently placed, that are to undergo very violent operations of the fire. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Distilling, Two Bars of Iron..to support the Retort or Capsula. 1853 Gregory Inorg. Chem. 181 If we heat a capsule of platinum a little beyond 212°, and drop water into it. 1873 W. Lees Acoustics iii. v. 111 A small capsule containing water. |
5. Med. A small envelope of gelatine to enclose a dose of nauseous medicine.
| 1875 H. Wood Therap. (1879) 503 When patients object to the taste, the drug may be given in gelatine capsules. |
6. A metallic cap or cover for a bottle.
| 1858 in Simmonds Dict. Trade. |
7. A percussion cap; the shell of a metallic cartridge. [Fr.]
| In mod. Dicts. |
8. (a) A pressurized compartment in an aircraft, also used for an emergency escape. (b) The detachable nose-cone of a rocket or space missile for carrying an astronaut, instruments for recording and transmitting scientific data, etc. orig. U.S.
| 1954 M. Caidin Worlds in Space v. 105 The ship could be controlled from within the sealed capsules. 1955 Sci. News Let. 11 June 377/3 An escape capsule for pilots flying supersonic aircraft..has been patented. 1958 Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Oct. 1/3 Later efforts would be made to send a man, again encased in a pressurized capsule, circling the earth for 24 hours. 1959 Daily Tel. 23 Feb. 11/6 For the space pilot..there must be the ability, in emergency, to eject the whole capsule in which one sits. 1959 Listener 17 Sept. 440/1 The first American space capsule. 1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 185 Because of a fault in some of the automatic control equipment he had had to control the Mercury capsule manually during the critical period of re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. 1968 Times 10 Dec. 6/8 Solar telescopes which can be linked up in space to an Apollo capsule. |
B. As adj. Brief, condensed, compressed; small and compact. orig. U.S.
| 1938 in J. Beatty Saturday Rev. Gallery (1959) 279 One of those capsule biographies of the author that sometimes appear on the jackets of detective stories. 1944 Amer. N. & Q. June 42/2 (heading) Capsule language for fighting men. 1953 R. Stout Golden Spiders 55 An estimated million and a quarter New Yorkers got an impressive capsule demonstration of the might of American armed forces. 1955 Keepnews & Grauer Pict. Hist. Jazz xiv. 149 It's not so much a Kansas City ‘style’ as a capsule history of jazz in one town. 1958 Vogue May 199 Blue and white blazer..slim skirt, really a capsule wardrobe in itself. |
▪ II. ˈcapsule, v.
[f. prec.]
trans. To furnish or close (a bottle, etc.) with a capsule or metallic cover.
Hence ˈcapsuled ppl. a., ˈcapsuling vbl. n., etc.
| 1859 All Year Round No. 30. 77 Any patent capsuled colour tubes. 1886 Brit. Manuf. Export Jrnl. 1 Oct., The necessity for wiring, sealing, or capsuling. |