capsulă

Forms

capsulă f (plural capsule)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French capsule according to DELR, DA and Wiktionary;^{[2][3][1][4][5][6]} DEX and MDA2 say it is also borrowed from Latin capsula (“small box”), and Tiktin names New Latin and Italian capsula.^{[2][3][1][4][5][6]} The French word was taken from Latin, first in the form casule in 1478 and with its present spelling from 1532.^[7] The Latin word is the diminutive of capsa (“box, case”), the cylindrical case in which book rolls were kept.^[2][8][9] Romanian capsă goes back to the same Latin word.^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1832;^[6][2] DELR's first date is 1837.^[6][2] The adjective capsular is older still, from 1822.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Romanian took over the technical senses the word had acquired in French: the anatomical envelope of an organ, the seed case of a plant, a laboratory dish, a pharmaceutical capsule and the metal cap of a bottle.^[7][3] Șăineanu (1929) also has the percussion cap of a firearm.^[11] The 20th century added the barometer box, the telephone capsule and the space capsule.^[4][5] In slang it is a bottle of spirits.^[12]

Scriban stressed it cápsulă after Latin and called capsúlă a false stress taken from French;^[10][3][2] DA and DELR record both.^[10][3][2]

Timeline

• 1822 – the adjective capsular.^[2]
• c. 1832 – first record of the noun.^[6]
• 1837 – DELR's first date.^[2]
• 1871 – capsulifer “bearing capsules”.^[2]
• 1939 – the verb capsula “to cap a bottle”.^[2]
• 1957 – decapsula, from French décapsuler.^[2]
• 1975 – încapsula.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany) A dry, dehiscent fruit with many seeds, sometimes divided into several cells, such as that of the poppy.^[4][13]
2. (anatomy, biology) The envelope of certain organs or joints, or of lower organisms: capsulă bacteriană.^[4][14]
3. A small soluble shell of starch or gelatine holding a medicine with an unpleasant taste, a capsule.^[4][5]
4. A heat-resistant laboratory dish in which substances are heated or evaporated.^[4][10]
5. A small metal cylinder holding carbon dioxide under pressure, used in soda siphons.^[4]
6. The sealed box that is the sensitive part of some barometers, and in capsulă telefonică the case holding the microphone or receiver of a telephone.^[4]
7. A thin metal cap closing bottles of beer or mineral water.^[4][15]
8. capsulă cosmică: the sealed compartment of a spacecraft that can separate and land.^[4]

Word family

• capsula
• capsular
• decapsula
• încapsula

Related words

• capsă

Usage notes

The stress is capsúlă; the Latin stress cápsulă is also recorded.^[2][16]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. capsulă
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. capsulă
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 143
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 292
6. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. capsúlă
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 229
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 102
12. ^ Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional
14. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
16. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 333