What does vial mean?
A vial is a small, usually slender bottle commonly used for medicine, laboratory samples, perfumes, and other liquids. In everyday usage, it most often suggests a container holding a dose of medicine, such as a vaccine or injectable drug, although the word is also standard in laboratory and pharmaceutical contexts. “Vial” is neutral rather than literary and is used in both British and American English. It should not be confused with “veil,” which has the same pronunciation but an entirely different meaning, nor with “phial,” a more literary or archaic word for a small bottle. The word has an unusually concrete history: it comes through French and Medieval Latin from a Latin term associated with a calf, traditionally explained by the former use of calfskin in bottle-making. Its compact form and specialized uses make it a precise and useful word for a small sealed container, especially one holding medicine or a sample.
nounA small, usually narrow bottle, especially one used to contain medicine, a laboratory sample, perfume, or another liquid.
- A small bottle, especially a medicine container or a container for a laboratory sample.
"The pharmacist placed the vaccine in a small glass vial."
"The nurse placed two tablets in an empty medicine vial."
"Each soil sample was sealed in a labelled vial."
The regular plural is used when referring to multiple small medicine containers, laboratory containers, or other bottles.
"The nurse lined up ten vials of vaccine on the counter."
Vial sounds like veil, but its Latin ancestry points to a calf—and to the calfskin once used to make bottles.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does vial come from?
Vial entered Middle English from Anglo-French vial, which was borrowed from Medieval Latin vitellus, a diminutive of Latin vitulus, “calf.” The calf association has traditionally been linked to the former use of calfskin in making bottles. Related English forms include veal, from Latin vitulus, and vitelline and vitellogen, from the same Latin diminutive.
How vial is actually used
Neutral in register and common in medical, pharmaceutical, and laboratory contexts. There is no significant difference between British and American usage.
Easily confused with vial
They have the same pronunciation, but a vial is a small bottle, whereas a veil is a piece of fabric worn to cover the face or body.
Both are small bottles; “vial” is the usual modern term, while “phial” is chiefly a literary or archaic synonym, especially for a medicine bottle.