encapsulation

noun

Etymology: From en- + capsule + -ation or encapsulate + -ion.

1. The act of enclosing in a capsule; the growth of a membrane around (any part) so as to enclose it in a capsule.

   “Recent studies demonstrate that encapsulation of the healing agent provides successive repair by reducing the capsules’ diameter to the material granulometry [2] and by casting them through materials compatible to concrete (i.e., [3]).”

2. Grouping together an object’s ‘state’ (its data) and the operations that may alter or interrogate it (its methods).
3. The process of arranging data into packets that can be transmitted using a given protocol.