cápsula

See also: capsula, capsulá, and càpsula

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Proto-Italic *kapsos

Latin capsa

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ula

Latin capsulabor.

Portuguese cápsula

Borrowed from Latin capsula.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.pi.su.lɐ/, /ˈkap.su.lɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈka.pi.su.lɐ/, /ˈkap.su.lɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈkap.su.la/, /ˈka.pi.su.la/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈka.psu.lɐ/

• Hyphenation: cáp‧su‧la

Noun

cápsula f (plural cápsulas)

1. (pharmacy) capsule (small container containing a dose of medicine)
2. (physiology) capsule (membranous envelope)
3. (botany) capsule (seed-case)
4. (astronautics) capsule (part of spacecraft containing crew’s living space)
5. pod (small vehicle)

Further reading

• “cápsula”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cápsula”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “cápsula”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

substratebor.?

Proto-Indo-European *kap-

Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti

Proto-Italic *kapjō

Proto-Italic *kapsos

Latin capsa

Proto-Indo-European *-lós

Proto-Indo-European *-elós

Proto-Italic *-elos

Latin -ula

Latin capsulabor.

Spanish cápsula

Borrowed from Latin capsula.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkabsula/ [ˈkaβ̞.su.la]
• Rhymes: -absula
• Syllabification: cáp‧su‧la

Noun

cápsula f (plural cápsulas)

1. (pharmacy) capsule (small container containing a dose of medicine)

   Synonyms: píldora, pastilla, tableta

   • 2025 June 16, Guillermo Arenas, ““Si no fuera un juego, no lo haríamos”: Tot Per Res, de dibujar sin pretensiones a vestir esta edición de Primavera Sound”, in El País‎^[1], Madrid: Ediciones El País, S.L., →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 June 2025:

     Una sensación que, al final, se ve reflejada en notas de música, tazas de café, personas bailando... Eso, más nuestra manera de dibujar y trazar, creemos que es lo que hace que se vea una cápsula muy buenrollera.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (astronautics) capsule

   cápsula espacial ― space capsule

3. cap, bottle cap

   cápsula de botella ― bottle cap

4. (media) spot, bulletin (short program segment)

   cápsula de radio ― radio spot

   cápsula informativa ― news brief

Derived terms

• cápsula convexa
• cápsula de escape
• capsular
• encapsular
• microcápsula

Further reading

• “cápsula”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025