minuscule
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- miniscule (originally a misspelling, but now so common that it has come to be considered an alternative spelling by many)
EtymologyEdit
From French minuscule, from Latin minuscula, feminine of minusculus (“rather less, rather small”), from minus (“less, smaller”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).
PronunciationEdit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈmɪn.ʊˌskjuːl/
Audio (RP) (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈmɪn.əˌskjul/, /mɪˈnʌsˌkjul/
NounEdit
minuscule (plural minuscules)
- A lowercase letter.
- Either of the two medieval handwriting styles minuscule cursive and Caroline minuscule.
- A letter in these styles.
TranslationsEdit
lower-case letter
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medieval handwriting style
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AdjectiveEdit
minuscule (comparative more minuscule, superlative most minuscule)
- Written in minuscules, lowercase.
- Written in minuscule handwriting style.
- Very small; tiny.
- 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist[1], volume 407, number 8837, page 74:
- In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%.
- a minuscule dot
SynonymsEdit
- (written in minuscules): lower-case, small
- (very small): microscopic; minute; tiny
- See also Thesaurus:tiny
AntonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
written in minuscules
written in minuscule handwriting style
very small, tiny
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Usage notesEdit
See the usage notes at miniscule
FrenchEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
Borrowed from Latin minusculus.
AdjectiveEdit
minuscule (plural minuscules)
Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
minuscule f (plural minuscules)
- (typography) a minuscule, a lower case
- Antonym: majuscule
Further readingEdit
- “minuscule”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
LatinEdit
PronunciationEdit
- (Classical) IPA(key): /miˈnus.ku.le/, [mɪˈnʊs̠kʊɫ̪ɛ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /miˈnus.ku.le/, [miˈnuskule]
AdjectiveEdit
minuscule
RomanianEdit
PronunciationEdit
AdjectiveEdit
minuscule