Meanings
plural time capsules
- A sealed container, buried at a specific location, that contains records of contemporary life, to be rediscovered in the distant future.
1 more example
Rail Minister Lord Hendy has placed a time capsule at Ravensthorpe, as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) project. Hendy was joined by Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, local schoolchildren and TRU apprentices at the burial of the time capsule, which will sit under foundations of a new viaduct.
2025 March 19, “News in pictures: Time capsule buried at Ravensthorpe”, in RAIL, number 1031, page 29, photo caption - figurativelyAn 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.
As we've seen, Belarus is a Soviet time capsule that continues only because Russia is keeping it on life support.
2011, Francis Tapon, The Hidden Europe: What Eastern Europeans Can Teach Us, page 135
Translations
Arabic كپسول زمان
- كپسول زمانsealed container
Bulgarian капсула на времето
- капсула на времето (kapsula na vremeto)sealed container
Catalan càpsula del temps
- càpsula del tempssealed container
Chinese Cantonese 時間囊 /时间囊
- 時間囊 /时间囊 (si⁴ gaan³ nong⁴, si⁴ gaan¹ nong⁴)sealed container
Chinese Mandarin 時間囊 /时间囊, 時間膠囊 /时间胶囊
- 時間囊 /时间囊 (shíjiānnáng)sealed container
- 時間膠囊 /时间胶囊 (shíjiān jiāonáng)sealed container
- 時代縮影 /时代缩影 (shídài suōyǐng)something reflecting an historical setting
- 歷史遺存 /历史遗存 (lìshǐ yícún)something reflecting an historical setting
Czech časová schránka, časová kapsle
- časová schránkasealed container
- časová kapslesealed container
Danish tidskapsel
- tidskapselsealed container
Dutch tijdcapsule
- tijdcapsulesealed container
Esperanto tempa kapsulo
- tempa kapsulosealed container
Estonian ajakapsel
- ajakapselsealed container
Finnish aikakapseli, aikakapseli
- aikakapselisealed container
- aikakapselisomething reflecting an historical setting
French capsule temporelle
- capsule temporellesealed container
German Zeitkapsel
- Zeitkapselsealed container
Hebrew קפסולת זמן
- קפסולת זמןsealed container
Hungarian időkapszula
- időkapszulasealed container
Indonesian kapsul waktu
- kapsul waktusealed container
Italian capsula del tempo
- capsula del temposealed container
Japanese タイムカプセル
- タイムカプセル (taimu kapuseru)sealed container
Korean 타임캡슐
- 타임캡슐 (taimkaepsyul)sealed container
Malay kapsul masa
- kapsul masasealed container
Norwegian tidskapsel
- tidskapselsealed container
Persian کپسول زمان
- کپسول زمانsealed container
Polish kapsuła czasu
- kapsuła czasusealed container
Portuguese cápsula do tempo
- cápsula do temposealed container
Russian ка́псула вре́мени, временная капсула
- ка́псула вре́мени (kápsula vrémeni)sealed container
- временная капсула (vremennaja kapsula)sealed container
Spanish cápsula del tiempo, caja del tiempo
- cápsula del tiemposealed container
- caja del tiemposealed container
- cápsula temporalsealed container
Swedish tidskapsel
- tidskapselsealed container
Thai แคปซูลกาลเวลา
- แคปซูลกาลเวลาsealed container
Turkish zaman kapsülü
- zaman kapsülüsealed container
Ukrainian часова капсула
- часова капсула (časova kapsula)sealed container
Cite this entry
time capsule. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20capsule
“time capsule.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20capsule. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “time capsule,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20capsule.
Source: time capsule on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.