capsule
カプセル
解説 Definition
capsule は、薬などを入れる小さな容器やカプセルという意味です。日本語の「カプセル」と近いですが、英語では薬の形だけでなく、小さく密閉された入れ物や宇宙船の乗員室にも使われます。
A capsule is a small enclosing container, especially a soluble case holding a measured amount of medicine. The word can also refer to another compact, sealed compartment, such as the part of a spacecraft that carries people or equipment.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
capsule は「中身を包む小さな容器」が核です。薬なら take one capsule、包装なら a sealed capsule と使い、さらに宇宙船の乗員区画にも広がります。ラテン語 capsula「小箱」が由来なので、錠剤そのものを指す tablet よりも「殻や容器に中身が収まる」像で覚えます。
Picture a small container completely enclosing its contents. In medicine, a capsule has an outer shell that holds a measured dose, so common expressions include take one capsule and a capsule containing medicine. This container image also explains space capsule, the compact enclosed section that carries astronauts or equipment. Compare it with a tablet: a tablet is compressed solid medicine, while a capsule normally has material enclosed inside a shell. The Latin source meant “little box,” which neatly unites these modern uses.
例文
Take one capsule after breakfast.
朝食後にカプセルを1つ飲んでください。
The tiny capsule holds the medicine.
その小さなカプセルには薬が入っています。
Each capsule is sealed in a silver pack.
それぞれのカプセルは銀色の包装で密封されています。
capsule の類義語・関連語
capsule の語源・成り立ち Etymology
ラテン語 capsula（小さな箱）から。capsa（箱・容器）の指小辞で、「小さな入れ物」が原義。英語 case（箱）や captain（頭＝組織の容器）も同根の cap-（つかむ・収める）に由来。薬や宇宙船など「中身を包む小容器」の意味はこの原義から自然に広がった。
Capsule comes from Latin capsula, meaning “small box or case.” Capsula is a diminutive of capsa, “box” or “container,” and the word entered English through French and scientific Latin. Its early sense of a small enclosing case developed naturally into the pharmaceutical meaning of a soluble shell containing medicine. The same basic idea of a compact enclosure later supported uses such as space capsule and time capsule.
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