Phrase guide

time capsule

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A sealed container, buried at a specific location, that contains records of contemporary life, to be rediscovered in the distant future.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An object, place, or collection that encapsulates and preserves the characteristics, culture or essence of a particular time period, usually due to isolation or some specific external influence.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

container for preserving historical records to be discovered at some future time

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: container

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: كپسول زمان — sealed container
  • Azerbaijani: zaman kapsulu — sealed container
  • Bulgarian: капсула на времето (kapsula na vremeto) — sealed container
  • Catalan: càpsula del temps — sealed container
  • Chinese Cantonese: 時間囊 /时间囊 (si4 gaan3 nong4, si4 gaan1 nong4) — sealed container
  • Chinese Mandarin: 時間囊 /时间囊 (shíjiānnáng) — sealed container
  • Chinese Mandarin: 時間膠囊 /时间胶囊 (shíjiān jiāonáng) — sealed container
  • Czech: časová schránka — sealed container
  • Czech: časová kapsle — sealed container
  • Danish: tidskapsel — sealed container
  • Dutch: tijdcapsule — sealed container
  • Esperanto: tempa kapsulo — sealed container
  • Estonian: ajakapsel — sealed container
  • Finnish: aikakapseli — sealed container
  • French: capsule temporelle — sealed container
  • German: Zeitkapsel — sealed container
  • Hebrew: קפסולת זמן — sealed container
  • Hungarian: időkapszula — sealed container
  • Indonesian: kapsul waktu — sealed container
  • Italian: capsula del tempo — sealed container
  • Japanese: タイムカプセル (taimu kapuseru) — sealed container
  • Korean: 타임캡슐 (taimkaepsyul) — sealed container
  • Malay: kapsul masa — sealed container
  • Norwegian: tidskapsel — sealed container
  • Persian: کپسول زمان — sealed container
  • Polish: kapsuła czasu — sealed container
  • Portuguese: cápsula do tempo — sealed container
  • Russian: ка́псула вре́мени (kápsula vrémeni) — sealed container
  • Russian: временная капсула (vremennaja kapsula) — sealed container
  • Spanish: cápsula del tiempo — sealed container
  • Spanish: caja del tiempo — sealed container
  • Spanish: cápsula temporal — sealed container
  • Swedish: tidskapsel — sealed container
  • Thai: แคปซูลกาลเวลา — sealed container
  • Turkish: zaman kapsülü — sealed container
  • Ukrainian: часова капсула (časova kapsula) — sealed container
  • Chinese Mandarin: 時代縮影 /时代缩影 (shídài suōyǐng) — something reflecting an historical setting
  • Chinese Mandarin: 歷史遺存 /历史遗存 (lìshǐ yícún) — something reflecting an historical setting
  • Finnish: aikakapseli — something reflecting an historical setting