Encapsulation

• molecular encapsulation, in chemistry, the confinement of an individual molecule within a larger molecule
• encapsulation (networking), in computer networking, to include data from an upper layer protocol in a lower layer protocol
• integrated circuit encapsulation, in electronics, the design and manufacture of protective packages for integrated circuits
• micro-encapsulation, in material science, the coating of microscopic particles with another material
• capsule (pharmacy), in pharmacy, the enclosure of a medicine within a relatively stable shell for administration
• encapsulation (classes - computers), in software engineering, the process of enclosing programming elements

inside larger, more abstract entities

• Information hiding, a term in software engineering often used synonymously with encapsulation