A vial (also phial or flacon) is a relatively small glass vessel or bottle, especially used to store medication as liquids, powders or in other forms like capsules. They can also be sample vessels; e.g., for use in autosampler devices in analytical chromatography.[1]
The glass can be colourless or coloured, clear or amber. There are different types of closure systems, i.e., screw vials (closed with screw cap or dropper/pipette), lip vials (closed with cork or plastic stopper), crimp vials (closed with a rubber stopper and a metal cap).[2] A vial can have a tubular shape or a bottle-like shape with a neck. The volume defined by the neck is called the "headspace". The bottom is usually flat unlike test tubes which have usually a rounded bottom. Modern vials can be made of plastic (e.g. polypropylene). These can have other closure systems like a flip-top/snap cap. The small bottle shaped vials used in laboratories are also called bijou or McCartney's bottles. The bijou bottle tends to be smaller; around 10ml.
The words "vial"/"phial" come from the Greek word "phiale"[3] meaning "a broad flat container".[4] Latin: "phiala", Late Latin: "fiola", Middle English: "fiole" and "viole".