Definition of "encapsulate"

encapsulate

/ɪnˈkæps(j)ʊˌleɪt/

verb
third-person singular simple present encapsulates, present participle encapsulating, simple past and past participle encapsulated
1. (transitive) To enclose something in, or as if in, a capsule.
  Quotations
  At a rate of six inches a year, the salt closes in on the waste and encapsulates it for what engineers say will be millions of years.
  2014 February 9, Matthew L. Wald, “Nuclear Waste Solution Seen in Desert Salt Beds”, in New York Times, retrieved 14 June 2014
2. (transitive) To epitomize something by expressing it as a brief summary.
  Quotations
  It's a little moment that seems to encapsulate her appeal ...
  2014 January 21, Hermione Hoby, “Julia Roberts interview for August”, in The Daily Telegraph (UK)‎
3. (software, object-oriented programming) To enclose objects in a common interface in a way that makes them interchangeable, and guards their states from invalid changes.
4. (networking) To enclose data in packets that can be transmitted using a given protocol.