Etymograph

English

capsule

Capsule comes from Latin capsula ‘diminutive of capsa’, from capsa ‘box’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyéti1‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjō2‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapsos2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsa3‘box’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsula3‘diminutive of capsa’diminutive of capsa
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentcapsule3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1962capsule3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin capsa
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English capsule
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1962, John F. Kennedy: “If this capsule history of our progress teaches us…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kap-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjōreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kapyétiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *kapjō‘to be grasping’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapjōWiktionary, Latin capsa‘to take, to seize’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kapsosWiktionary, Latin capsareconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsaWiktionary, English capsule‘box’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcapsulaWiktionary, English capsule‘diminutive of capsa’diminutive of capsa
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentcapsuleWiktionary, English capsule
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1962capsuleWiktionary, English capsule. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1962, John F. Kennedy: “If this capsule history of our progress teaches us…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kap-

had, head, except, heavy, behavior, catch, capital, achieve, heavily, captain, chapter, capacity, chef, escape, occupation, acceptance, haven, behave, cabin, chapel, hawk, cape, cattle, precipitation, capitol, conceive, capita, mischief, captive, chaplain, captivity, mischievous, cad, conceivable, 144 more

through Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti ‘to be grasping’

acceptable, 31 more

through Proto-Italic *kapjō ‘to take, to seize’

accept, receive, recipe, reception, perception, cable, capture, capable, recipient, anticipation, anticipate, deception, deceive, susceptible, deceptive, caption, cater, deceit, 33 more

through Proto-Italic *kapsos

cashier, 3 more

through Latin capsa ‘box’

case, cash, chase, chassis, cassette, casket, 7 more

Today it means

noun A membranous envelope.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “capsule”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *kapjō, Latin capsa. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kap- / capsule

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