Microcontainer

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An extremely small receptacle or enclosed space designed to hold or store materials
2. A tiny container used to hold, transport, or protect small quantities of substances or objects
3. A miniature enclosed compartment or vessel used for storage, delivery, or containment of goods

Etymology: "Microcontainer" is a plain compound: "micro-" (from Greek "mikros", "small") attached to "container." It describes a very small receptacle, typically at the scale of micrometres or smaller, used to hold and protect a substance, such as a drug, flavour, or other material, until it is released. The term is a transparent coinage in which the prefix does all the work of shrinking an ordinary container down to a tiny scale. The word's meaning follows directly from its parts, so there is little to unravel beyond that. Its usefulness lies in describing objects that are, in effect, containers too small to see with the naked eye, a concept that became practical as researchers learned to build such structures deliberately.

Synonyms: vial, capsule, pod