encapsulation

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   The act of enclosing something completely inside a protective covering or container.

   Grammar: Usually uncountable and followed by of: the encapsulation of the drug in a coating.

   Patterns

   • the encapsulation of something
   • encapsulation in something

   The encapsulation of the medicine protects it from stomach acid.

   Waste is stored using encapsulation in concrete.

   Encapsulation of the oil droplets keeps the cosmetic cream stable.

2. 2nouncountable

   A short expression or example that captures the main idea or spirit of something larger.

   Grammar: Often used with an and of: a perfect encapsulation of her style.

   Patterns

   • an encapsulation of something
   • a perfect encapsulation of something

   The headline was a neat encapsulation of the whole debate.

   Her speech was an encapsulation of everything the movement stood for.

   The poem is a short encapsulation of grief.

3. 3noununcountablecomputingtechnical

   In programming, the practice of keeping an object's data and its related code together and hiding the inner details from the rest of the program.

   Grammar: Usually uncountable in object-oriented programming discussions.

   Patterns

   • encapsulation of data
   • use encapsulation

   Encapsulation prevents other parts of the program from changing the data directly.

   The course teaches encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism.

   Good encapsulation makes the code easier to maintain.

Word forms

Common combinations

a perfect encapsulation

The ad was a perfect encapsulation of the brand's spirit.

encapsulation of data

Encapsulation of data helps prevent accidental changes.

a neat encapsulation

His comment was a neat encapsulation of the problem.

drug encapsulation

Drug encapsulation allows slow release of a medicine.

object-oriented encapsulation

Object-oriented encapsulation keeps data private inside each class.

Synonyms and how they differ

summary

Summary is a shorter version of a longer text, while encapsulation suggests the essence is captured in one striking form.

epitome

Epitome means a perfect example of a quality, while encapsulation means a compact expression of an idea.

enclosure

Enclosure is a physical thing that surrounds something, and does not suggest condensing an idea.

distillation

Distillation suggests the purified essence of a longer discussion, a bit more formal than encapsulation.

Word family

encapsulate verb

to enclose, or to express the essence of something

encapsulated adjective

enclosed in a capsule or condensed

capsule noun

a small container, often for medicine

Commonly confused: encapsulation or abstraction?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “encapsulation”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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