encapsulate

verb en·cap·su·late \ in-ˈkap-sə-ˌlāt , en- \

Definition of encapsulate

encapsulated; encapsulating

transitive verb

1 :to enclose in or as if in a capsule

a pilot encapsulated in the cockpit

2 :epitomize, summarize

encapsulate an era in an aphorism

intransitive verb

:to become encapsulated

—

encapsulation

play \in-ˌkap-sə-ˈlā-shən, en-\ noun

See encapsulate defined for English-language learners

See encapsulate defined for kids

Examples of encapsulate in a Sentence

The contaminated material should be encapsulated and removed.
can you encapsulate the president's speech in about a paragraph?

Recent Examples of encapsulate from the Web

Essentially, Wellner’s product is a single serving of milk, encapsulated in a sugar crust.

— dan nosowitz, Smithsonian, "Milk and Sugar Pods That Dissolve in Coffee Could Replace Single-Serve Containers," 29 Aug. 2017
The attire in both cover portraits is modest, but not explicitly Muslim, in keeping with the values of the majority of the magazine’s readership as well as encapsulating a major trend on the runways of the fashion capitals.

— elizabeth paton, New York Times, "Bella Hadid, a Covered-Up Cover Star for Vogue Arabia," 14 Aug. 2017
The city of 200,000 also encapsulates Scotland’s desire to retain the status quo.

— lukanyo mnyanda, Bloomberg.com, "Oil City’s Property Slump Exposes a Jaded Britain," 14 July 2017
The allure of effortless beauty and chic minimalism that make up the French-Girl aesthetic are as conceptually captivating as the iconic women who encapsulate it.

— fatou n'diaye, Glamour, "What 'French-Girl Beauty' Means If You're a Woman of Color," 14 July 2017
However, if a doctor isn't aware that a woman with GBS plans to encapsulate her placenta—or the woman just doesn't think that her placenta could carry the bacteria—

— korin miller, SELF, "Please Don’t Eat Your Placenta—It Could Put Your Baby's Health at Risk," 5 July 2017
The bacteria have the ability to encapsulate within spores, making them resistant to usual sterilizing procedures.

— rita giordano, Philly.com, "Penn study finds deadly C. diff infections are on the rise," 3 July 2017
In many cases, new mothers send their baby’s placentas to processing companies that dehydrate them and encapsulate them into pills.

— amanda macmillan, Health.com, "Placenta Pills Probably Made This Baby Sick, Doctors Say," 30 June 2017
The moment encapsulated everything baseball was in the 1990s and early 2000s: Home runs, the Yankees and mind-boggling performances.

— connor grossman, SI.com, ""This one is headed for New Jersey!": An oral history of Barry Bonds's titanic Yankee Stadium homer," 28 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'encapsulate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Encapsulate and its related noun, "capsule," derive from "capsula," a diminutive form of the Latin noun capsa, meaning "box." "Capsa" also gave us our noun "case" (the container kind; the legal sense has a different origin). The original sense of encapsulate, meaning "to enclose something in a capsule," first appeared in the late 19th century. Its extended meaning, "to give a summary or synopsis of something," plays on the notion of a capsule as something compact, self-contained, and often easily digestible (as in a capsule of medicine). There is also a verb "capsule," which is more or less synonymous with "encapsulate."

First Known Use of encapsulate

1872

encapsulate Synonyms

ENCAPSULATE Defined for English Language Learners

encapsulate

verb

Definition of encapsulate for English Language Learners

: to show or express the main idea or quality of (something) in a brief way
: to completely cover (something) especially so that it will not touch anything else

Medical Dictionary

encapsulate

verb en·cap·su·late \ in-ˈkap-sə-ˌlāt \

medical Definition of encapsulate

encapsulated; encapsulating

transitive verb

:to surround, encase, or protect in or as if in a capsule

DNA has been encapsulated in microspheres
—Paul Smaglik

intransitive verb

:to become encapsulated

a bacillus that encapsulates in the human body

—

encapsulation

play \-ˌkap-sə-ˈlā-shən\ noun

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First Known Use of encapsulate

encapsulate Synonyms

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ENCAPSULATE Defined for English Language Learners

encapsulate

Definition of encapsulate for English Language Learners

Medical Dictionary

encapsulate

medical Definition of encapsulate

encapsulation

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