cap·sule   (kāp'səl, -sōōl)    n.   A small soluble container, usually made of gelatin, that encloses a dose of an oral medicine or a vitamin. Anatomy A fibrous, membranous, or fatty sheath that encloses an organ or part, such as the sac surrounding the kidney or the fibrous tissues that surround a joint. Microbiology A mucopolysaccharide outer shell enveloping certain bacteria. Botany A dry dehiscent fruit that develops from two or more united carpels. The thin-walled, spore-containing structure of mosses and related plants. A space capsule. A brief summary; a condensation. adj.   Highly condensed; very brief: a capsule description. Very small; compact. tr.v.   cap·suled, cap·sul·ing, cap·sules To enclose in or furnish with a capsule. To condense or summarize: capsuled the news. [French, from Latin capsula, diminutive of capsa, box.]

Capsule

Cap"sule\, n. [L. capsula a little box or chest, fr. capsa chest, case, fr. capere to take, contain: cf. F. capsule.]

1. (Bot.) a dry fruit or pod which is made up of several parts or carpels, and opens to discharge the seeds, as, the capsule of the poppy, the flax, the lily, etc.

2. (Chem.) (a) A small saucer of clay for roasting or melting samples of ores, etc.; a scorifier. (b) a small, shallow, evaporating dish, usually of porcelain.

3. (Med.) A small cylindrical or spherical gelatinous envelope in which nauseous or acrid doses are inclosed to be swallowed.

4. (Anat.) A membranous sac containing fluid, or investing an organ or joint; as, the capsule of the lens of the eye. Also, a capsulelike organ.

5. A metallic seal or cover for closing a bottle.

6. A small cup or shell, as of metal, for a percussion cap, cartridge, etc.

Atrabiliary capsule. See under Atrabiliary.

Glisson's capsule, a membranous envelope, entering the liver along with the portal vessels and insheathing the latter in their course through the organ.

Suprarenal capsule, an organ of unknown function, above or in front of each kidney.

capsule 

Main Entry: cap·sule
Pronunciation: 'kap-s&l, -(")sül
Function: noun
1 a : a membrane or saclike structure enclosing a part or organcapsule of the kidney> b : either of two layers or laminae of white matter in the cerebrum: (1) : a layer that consists largely of fibers passing to and fromthe cerebral cortex and that lies internal to the lentiform nucleus called also internal capsule (2) : one that lies between the lentiform nucleus and the claustrum called alsoexternal capsule
2 : a shell usually of gelatin for packaging something (as a drug or vitamins); also : a usually medicinal or nutritional preparation fororal use consisting of the shell and its contents
3 : a viscous or gelatinous often polysaccharide envelope surrounding certain microscopic organisms (as the pneumococcus)

capsule cap·sule (kāp'səl, -s&oomacr;l)
n.

1. A fibrous, membranous, or fatty sheath that encloses an organ or part, such as the sac surrounding the kidney or the fibrous tissues that surround a joint.
2. A small soluble container, usually made of gelatin, that encloses a dose of an oral medicine or a vitamin.
3. The thin-walled, spore-containing structure of mosses and related plants.

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cap'su·lar (kāp'sə-lər, -sy&oobreve;-) adj.

capsule   (kāp'səl, -sl)  Pronunciation Key  A dry dehiscent fruit that develops from two or more carpels, as in the poppy and the cottonwood tree. The sporangium (the hollow spore-producing structure) of mosses and other bryophytes. The outer layer of viscous polysaccharide or polypeptide slime with which some bacteria cover their cell walls. Capsules provide defense against phagocytes and prevent the bacteria from drying out.