Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or resembling a capsule: Pertaining to a small, sealed container or a structure that encloses something, often in biology, medicine, or botany.
   • Having the form of a capsule: Shaped like a small case or container.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The medicine is available in both tablet and capsular forms.
  • The botanist studied the plant's capsular fruit, which splits open when ripe.
  • The capsular ligament provides stability to the shoulder joint.

Advanced Usage

• "Capsular contracture": A medical complication, particularly following breast augmentation, where the scar tissue capsule around an implant tightens and hardens.

  • The patient underwent surgery to correct the painful capsular contracture.

• "Capsular polysaccharide": A layer of polysaccharides that surrounds the cell wall of some bacteria, serving as a protective barrier.

  • Vaccines are often developed to target the bacterium's capsular polysaccharide.

Variants and Related Words

• Capsule (n): A small case or container, especially for a dose of medicine; a dry fruit that releases seeds; a membranous structure enclosing an organ or part.

  • She swallowed the antibiotic capsule with water.

• Encapsulate (v): To enclose something in or as if in a capsule; to summarize something concisely.

  • The report aims to encapsulate the main findings of the year.

• Encapsulation (n): The action of enclosing something in a capsule; the concise expression of the essential features of something.

  • Data encapsulation is a key principle in object-oriented programming.

Synonyms

• Sac-like: Having the form of a pouch or sac.
• Enclosed: Surrounded or closed off on all sides.

Related Phrases

• Joint capsule: The fibrous sac that encloses a synovial joint, containing the synovial fluid.
  • Injury to the joint capsule can cause significant swelling and pain.

Adjective

1. of or relating to a capsule
2. resembling a capsule
   • the capsular ligament is a sac surrounding the articular cavity of a freely movable joint and attached to the bones