capsule

Forms

capsule f (plural capsules)^[1] First as casule (1478), then capsule (1532).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin capsula (“small box, casket”), a diminutive of capsa (“box, case”).^[4][2][5][6] Medieval Latin already used the word in anatomy, as cassula, for the envelopes of the lung and the heart (1110–1120).^[4][2] That Latin noun is also the source of caisse and châsse.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1478, as casule, in Nicolas Panis's translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie, as the name of the ligament-like envelope of an organ, here the pericardium.^[4][2] Rabelais writes capsule du cœur in 1532.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word entered French as an anatomical term, and Furetière's dictionary (1690) also gives the botanical sense, the dry case holding the seeds of some plants.^[4][2] In Anglo-Norman a capsule “little box” is recorded already in the early 13th century.^[7]

The more general sense of a hollowed, box-shaped object (Cotgrave, 1611) gave rise to several technical uses: a shallow dish for evaporating liquids in chemistry (1690), a small copper cup of fulminating powder used to fire a gun (1834), the soluble envelope of a medicine (1863) and the metal cap over the cork and neck of a bottle (1864).^[4][2] This last is now the everyday sense, from the middle of the 19th century; from it came capsuler (1845) and décapsuler (1929).^[2] In the 20th century the word was applied to the cabin of a spacecraft.^[4][8]

Timeline

• 1478 – Casule names an envelope of an organ in a translation of Guy de Chauliac.^[4][2]
• 1532 – Rabelais uses the form capsule.^[3][5][2]
• 1611 – Cotgrave records the sense “box-shaped hollow object”.^[4][2]
• 1690 – Furetière gives the botanical and chemical senses.^[4]
• 1834 – Landais records the percussion cap of a firearm.^[4][8]
• 1863 – Littré records the medicinal capsule.^[4][9]
• 1864 – Erckmann-Chatrian use it of a metal bottle cap.^[4][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) A membranous or fibrous envelope around an organ or joint: capsule articulaire, capsules surrénales.^[8][10]
2. (botany) A dry fruit whose hard case splits open to release the seeds, as in the poppy.^[8][10][4]
3. A small copper cup of fulminating powder used to fire a gun, a percussion cap.^[8][1]
4. A metal cap fitted over the neck of a bottle.^[8][1]
5. A soluble envelope enclosing a dose of a medicine.^[8][10]
6. The cabin of a spacecraft, which can be recovered.^[8][4]
7. (chemistry) A shallow heat-resistant dish for evaporation.^[10][11]
8. (Quebec) A short video or audio presentation.^[1]

Word family

• capsulaire
• décapsuler
• encapsuler
• capsuler

Related words

• caisse
• châsse
• Latin capsula

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 315b
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
10. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
11. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette