Okay, I was sifting through a newspaper ad, and they were advertising all these pills for different ailments (from garlic as an antibiotic to calcium and magnesium, plus some stranger things).
Anyway, they offer some as tablets (I understand that… like the cake-shaped Tylenol), capsules (most antibiotics), softgels (obvious), and another… Caplets. I can guess the obvious that it’s a cross between a capsule and a tablet, but… how?
Most caplets are just football-shaped tablets. Many people seem to find the shape easier to swallow, others prefer it for dietary or religious reasons. (Capsules are gelatin, gelatin is an animal product, and not usually kosher.)
My bottle of Aleve defines caplet as a “capsule shaped tablet”.
The OP mentions pills, which by strict definition would be spherical, I believe.
What makes you think that?
OK; the definition has probably drifted, but originally, pills were rolled up, whereas tablets were pressed or stamped out. I’ll try to find a cite for that.
Ah m-w is a bit more helpful:
Main Entry: pill
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English pylle, from Middle Dutch pille, ultimately from Latin pilula, from diminutive of pila ball
Date: 14th century
1 a : medicine in a small rounded mass to be swallowed whole b often capitalized : an oral contraceptive – usually used with the
2 : something repugnant or unpleasant that must be accepted or endured
3 : something resembling a pill in size or shape
4 : a disagreeable or tiresome person
That #3 is interesting. I’m surpirsed that you can define a pill as something that resembles a pill.
I think that would be referring to things like those little bobbles that develop on woolen garments (i.e. ‘pill-shaped’)
I merely used the word pill because I didn’t really feel like saying “oral medication”, and because none of the labels in the ad used the word, so it avoided confusion. 
Thanks for the answers, guys!
Do they still make capsules? I haven’t seen those in 20 years (since the Tylenol Incident). As far as I knew, they were replaced by “caplets” (capsule-shaped tablets) and also by something called “gelcaps”. I always found the capsules, and then the caplets and gelcaps, easier to swallow than the tablets.
sure they still use capsules. Benedryl has 'em, and they’re ‘cap-sealed’ or something insipid.
caplets are, as postcards and Dragonblinkpointed out, simply capsule-shaped tablets.
jb
So a pillbug is a pill?
So what’s with the “tabsules” I now see?
At least we can rest assured that there’s nowhere to go from here without actually inventing a new name…
Unless, of course, you get ill from reading too much Shakespeare for school the night before the big exam.
In that case, you need to take two capulets and go to bed, preferably with a Montague.
Does Tylenol still come in “pill” form? I only see caplets. Caplets seem to swallow better, in my opinion.
Anybody remember Tylenol pills, before pills were coated? they stuck in your throat for about an hour before they went down. Yuck.
It’s really surprising to me to see someone say this. Of course they still make capsules. In many sizes and colors. They’re not the least bit obsolete and AFAIK in no danger of becoming so. I swallow a number of them every day. Apparently you’re been fortunate enough that you haven’t required many prescription medications.
It’s really surprising to me to see someone say this. Of course they still make capsules. In many sizes and colors. They’re not the least bit obsolete and AFAIK in no danger of becoming so. I swallow a number of them every day. Apparently you’re been fortunate enough that you haven’t required many prescription medications.
I always just assumed that tablets referred to normal pills, the ones that dissolve in your mouth before you even begin to swallow, and leave that horrible taste. Caplets (to me, at least), are tablets that are coated in gelatin, making them easier to swallow, and most importantly, keeping the taste in.