Meanings
plural minuscules · alternative miniscule
- countableA lowercase letter.
- uncountableEither of the two medieval handwriting styles minuscule cursive and Caroline minuscule.
By the eighth century, Irish scribes had refined everyday cursive writing in minuscule to allow its use for the production of quality vellum books.
2001, Steven Roger Fischer, History of Writing, Reaktion Books, →ISBN, page 254 - countableA letter in these styles.
comparative more minuscule · superlative most minuscule · alternative miniscule
- Written in minuscules, lowercase.
Synonyms: lower-case, small
- Written in minuscule handwriting style.
- Very small; tiny.
a minuscule dot
1 more example
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%.
2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74Synonyms: minuscular, microscopic, minute, tiny
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveWritten in minuscules, lowercase.
adjectiveVery small; tiny.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveof or relating to a small cursive script developed from uncial; 7th to 9th centuries
nounthe characters that were once kept in bottom half of a compositor's type case
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinminuscula
- Frenchminuscule
- Englishminuscule
From French minuscule, from Latin minuscula, feminine of minusculus (“rather less, rather small”), from minus (“less, smaller”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic حَرْف صَغِير
- حَرْف صَغِير (ḥarf ṣaḡīr)lower-case letter
Bulgarian ма́лка бу́ква, мъничък
- ма́лка бу́ква (málka búkva)lower-case letter
- мъничък (măničăk)very small, tiny
Catalan minúscula, minúscul
- minúsculalower-case letter
- minúsculvery small, tiny
Chinese Mandarin 小寫字母 /小写字母
- 小寫字母 /小写字母 (ziǎoxiězìmǔ)lower-case letter
Czech minuskule, malé písmeno
- minuskulelower-case letter
- malé písmenolower-case letter
- drobnývery small, tiny
- nepatrnývery small, tiny
- malinkývery small, tiny
Danish lille bogstav
- lille bogstavlower-case letter
Dutch minuskel, kleine letter
- minuskellower-case letter
- kleine letterlower-case letter
Esperanto minusklo, malgrandega
- minusklolower-case letter
- malgrandegavery small, tiny
Estonian väiketäht
- väiketähtlower-case letter
Finnish pienaakkonen, pieni kirjain
- pienaakkonenlower-case letter
- pieni kirjainlower-case letter
- minuskelilower-case letter
- pienin kirjaimin kirjoitettuwritten in minuscules
- mitätönvery small, tiny
- olematonvery small, tiny
French minuscule, minuscule
- minusculelower-case letter
- minusculewritten in minuscules
- minusculevery small, tiny
German Kleinbuchstabe, Gemeinbuchstabe
- Kleinbuchstabelower-case letter
- Gemeinbuchstabelower-case letter
- Gemeiner (der Gemeine)lower-case letter
- Minuskellower-case letter
- Minuskelmedieval handwriting style
- Klein-written in minuscules
- klitzekleinvery small, tiny
- winzigvery small, tiny
Greek μικρό γράμμα, πεζό γράμμα
- μικρό γράμμα (mikró grámma)lower-case letter
- πεζό γράμμα (pezó grámma)lower-case letter
Hindi छोटा अक्षर
- छोटा अक्षर (choṭā akṣar)lower-case letter
Hungarian kisbetű, minuszkula
- kisbetűlower-case letter
- minuszkulalower-case letter
- minuszkulamedieval handwriting style
Icelandic smástafur
- smástafurlower-case letter
Irish litir bheag
- litir bheaglower-case letter
Italian minuscolo, minuscolo
- minuscololower-case letter
- minuscolovery small, tiny
Japanese 小文字, 矮小
- 小文字 (komoji)lower-case letter
- 矮小 (waishou)very small, tiny
Korean 소문자
- 소문자 (somunja)lower-case letter
Latvian mazais burts
- mazais burtslower-case letter
Lithuanian mažoji raidė
- mažoji raidėlower-case letter
Norwegian Bokmål minuskel, gemen
- minuskellower-case letter
- gemenlower-case letter
- liten bokstavlower-case letter
Polish minuskuła, mała litera
- minuskułalower-case letter
- mała literalower-case letter
Portuguese minúscula, minúsculo
- minúsculalower-case letter
- minúsculowritten in minuscules
- minúsculovery small, tiny
Romanian minusculă, literă mică
- minusculălower-case letter
- literă micălower-case letter
Russian строчна́я бу́ква, ма́ленькая бу́ква
- строчна́я бу́ква (stročnája búkva)lower-case letter
- ма́ленькая бу́ква (málenʹkaja búkva)lower-case letter
- мину́скул (minúskul)medieval handwriting style
- мину́скул (minúskul)letter in this style
Slovak malé písmeno
- malé písmenolower-case letter
Spanish minúscula, letra de caja baja
- minúsculalower-case letter
- letra de caja bajalower-case letter
- minúsculawritten in minuscules
- minúsculovery small, tiny
Swedish gemen, liten bokstav
- gemenlower-case letter
- liten bokstavlower-case letter
- jättelitenvery small, tiny
- pyttelitenvery small, tiny
Tagalog menuskula, minuskula
- menuskulavery small, tiny
- minuskulavery small, tiny
Turkish küçük harf
- küçük harflower-case letter
Ukrainian мала́ лі́тера, мала́ бу́ква
- мала́ лі́тера (malá lítera)lower-case letter
- мала́ бу́ква (malá búkva)lower-case letter
Urdu چھوٹا حَرْف
- چھوٹا حَرْف (choṭā harf)lower-case letter
Vietnamese chữ nhỏ, chữ thường
- chữ nhỏlower-case letter
- chữ thườnglower-case letter
Cite this entry
minuscule. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minuscule
“minuscule.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minuscule. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “minuscule,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minuscule.
Source: minuscule on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.