n.1 a small soluble case of gelatine enclosing a dose of medicine and swallowed with it.
2 a detachable compartment of a spacecraft or nose-cone of a rocket.
3 an enclosing membrane in the body.
4 a a dry fruit that releases its seeds when ripe. b the spore-producing part of mosses and liverworts.
5 Biol. an enveloping layer surrounding certain bacteria.
6 (attrib.) concise; highly condensed (a capsule history of jazz).
Derivatives:
capsular adj. capsulate adj.
Etymology: F f. L capsula f. capsa CASE(2)