Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Capsule

Cap′sule (kăp′sūl), 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.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.