minusculen.adj.

Brit.

/ˈmɪnᵻskjuːl/,

/ˈmɪnjᵿskjuːl/,

/mɪˈnʌskjuːl/, U.S.

/ˈmɪnəˌskjul/

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French minuscule.

Etymology: < French minuscule, adjective (1634 in sense B. 1, 1859 in sense B. 2) and noun (1690) < classical Latin minusculus somewhat smaller, rather small < minus minus adj. + -culus -cule suffix. Erasmus uses post-classical Latin minuscula (noun, short for littera minuscula ) and minusculus (adjective, in alpha minusculum ) of small or lower-case letters; the adjective is also found in Thomas More (1518) designating lower-case type. With use as adjective compare Italian minuscolo (1598 in Florio), Portuguese minúsculo (17th cent.), Spanish minúsculo (1734). With use as noun compare Italian minuscola (a1642). Compare majuscule adj. and n., and later miniscule n. and adj. (and see note below). N.E.D. (1906) gives only the pronunciation (minɒ·skiul) /mɪˈnʌskjuːl/. Pronunciations with stress on the first syllable are first recorded in dictionaries in 1961 (Webster) and 1963 (Jones, 12th ed.), where the previous editions of both dictionaries (1954, 1956 respectively) only record pronunciations with stress on the second syllable. The pronunciation with stress on the second syllable is still recorded as a variant in British usage in the 14th edition of Jones (revised S. Ramsaram, 1988). Notwithstanding this evidence, it seems likely that deliberate contrast with majuscule adj. and n. may frequently have forced stress on the first syllable, a hypothesis supported by the quite early emergence of the variant miniscule n. and adj., which is most easily explained as resulting from reduction of an unstressed medial vowel.

A. n.

1. (a) Palaeography. A small letter, as opposed to a majuscule. (b) Chiefly Typography. A small or lower-case letter, as opposed to a capital.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > small letter

minuscule1701

miniscule1871

society > communication > printing > printed matter > printed character(s) > [noun] > lower case or small letter

minuscule1701

smalls1834

miniscule1871

1701 H. Wanley Let. 7 Apr. (1989) 159 Those sorts of Characters..are the Capitals; the Gothic..and the Large Spanish Letter of an Inch long, the Minuscules.

1705 H. Wanley in Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 1996 Some MSS. written with Minuscules.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Minuscule, or Minusculæ, in Printing, are the small, or running Letters.

1782 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music II. 32 A notation for three octaves; the gravest of which he expressed by capitals, the mean by minuscules, and the highest by double letters.

1851 F. Palgrave Hist. Normandy & Eng. I. 228 The initial difference of a minuscule or a capital.

1927 Speculum 2 65 Only in the small minuscules used for capitula, does the apostrophe-sign occur.

1975 Lang. for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xi. 186 Linking minuscules is a case in point, for ligaturing needs to be practised in a way that will ensure increase of speed and continuity of movement.

1992 Amer. Speech 67 87 Gulf, region near the Persian Gulf, specif the Gulf War theater (used with initial minuscule in national publications).

2. Palaeography. A minuscule script (see sense B. 1).

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [noun] > minuscule

minusculea1876

society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > according to type of writing

pictograph1851

stenograph1856

cursive1861

minusculea1876

uncial1881

a1876 J. Eadie Comm. Thess. (1877) 23 A few minuscules read αὐτοὺς ἡμᾶς.

1883 I. Taylor Alphabet II. 160 The minuscule arose in the 7th century as a cursive monastic script.

1897 H. W. Johnston Latin MSS 70 Half-Uncials are derived from the uncials and represent the last efforts of the book hand to differentiate itself from the improved business hand of the time... It is also called the Roman Uncial and Pre-Caroline Minuscule.

1912 E. M. Thompson Introd. Greek & Lat. Palaeogr. xvi. 367 At Tours, where, under the rule of Alcuin of York, who was abbot of St. Martin's from 796 to 804, was specially developed the exact hand which has received the name of the Carolingian Minuscule.

1926 E. A. Lowe in C. G. Crump & E. F. Jacob Legacy of Middle Ages 209 Before developing a minuscule Irish calligraphers had created a majuscule, the Irish half-uncial as it is styled.

1957 N. R. Ker Catal. MSS containing Anglo-Saxon p. xxv The change from Anglo-Saxon minuscule to caroline minuscule..involved the duct of the handwriting of all manuscripts.

1980 M. Drogin Med. Calligr. iv. 50 We know the script today as Carolingian Minuscule, Carlovingian Minuscule, Caroline Half-Uncial, [etc.].

B. adj.

a. Chiefly Typography. Of a letter: small, lower-case. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > printing > printed matter > printed character(s) > [adjective] > lower-case or small

lower case1683

minuscule1704

1704 Philos. Trans. 1702–3 (Royal Soc.) 23 1509 It has its Signatures all along in Minuscule Letters.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Letter Printers distinguish their letters into Capital, Majuscule, or Initial Letters..and Minuscule or Small Letters.

1854 G. F. Waagen Treasures of Art in Great Brit. I. ix. 309 The leaves are printed on both sides in rather dark ink; the text, in a small minuscule letter, is always to the left of the spectator.

1988 M. D. Zakharova tr. M. H. Riznyk Script & Print 62 The cast type set named Antique here forms a part of both capital and small (i.e. minuscule) letters.

b. Palaeography. Of a letter: small. Also: designating, belonging to, or written in any of various regional scripts (developed from Later Roman Cursive) which emerged in the 7th and 8th centuries in western Europe, on some forms of which the lower-case letters of roman type were modelled.Frequently used spec. of the particular script known more fully as Caroline or Carolingian Minuscule, which was in widespread use in the West by the 12th century. Also used with reference to the Greek script adopted by the Byzantines in the 9th century as a substitute for uncial.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [adjective] > small

minuscule1835

miniscule1874

1835 W. Y. Ottley (title) Observations on a manuscript in the British Museum, believed to be of the second or third century, containing Cicero's translation of the astronomical poem by Aratus, with a dissertation in proof of the use of minuscule writing by the ancient Romans.

1850 A. Way in Archæol. Jrnl. 7 356 A little mark at the close of the first line, resembling a minuscule C is somewhat indistinct.

1883 I. Taylor Alphabet I. 71 The letters of the beautiful minuscule manuscripts of the 10th and 11th centuries. These minuscule letters are cursive forms of the earlier uncials.

1900 Expositor Mar. 175 Annotations are found in the minuscule codices.

1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 729/2 The Glagolitic was founded upon the ordinary Greek minuscule writing of the period.

1947 Speculum 22 379 The marginalia, in various early minuscule scripts, are in some cases like the Corbie script.

1983 J. Hutchinson Letters iii. 78 Half uncial writing was made up generally of minuscule letters with an occasional capital letter.

2. gen. Extremely small, tiny. Also: unimportant.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > very small in amount or degree

superfine1575

tiny1598

minute1606

exiguous1630

myriate1665

delicate1692

miniature1714

infinitesimal1733

diminutive1741

weeny1790

inappreciable1802

teeny1802

scrumptious1834

teeny-weeny1842

teeny-tiny1849

tee-tiny1872

minuscule1878

the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > extremely small

tinea1400

little weea1525

undersmall?1527

little little1542

perpusil1598

tiny1598

punctual1605

minute1606

pygmya1616

exiguous1630

atomical1646

minutulous1651

puncticular1658

arenulous1664

myriate1665

minimal1666

minim1671

infinitesimal1733

minutissim1768

weeny1790

midgety1798

teeny1802

pinpoint1807

atomic1809

homuncular1822

minnow1824

weeshy1825

pinhead1835

finitesimal1836

homoeopathic1838

teeny-weeny1842

teenty1844

teenty-taunty1844

teeny-tiny1849

submolecular1854

teensy1856

super-compact1860

midget1865

ultramicroscopic1870

pilulous1871

teensy-weensy1872

tee-tiny1872

minuscule1878

smitchy1888

eeny-weeny1894

eensy-weensy1904

pygmean1904

ultramicroscopical1904

bitsy1905

bitty1905

totty1906

millimetric1909

miniscule1909

minuscular1911

insectual1912

micro1931

eeny1933

eensy1940

submicrogram1941

submillimetre1954

diddy1963

mini1963

micro-mini1967

1878 Princeton Rev. July 74 In old times we might laugh at..the kinglets and the princelets..the minuscule aulic councillors of pocket-handkerchief dukedoms.

1892 Atlantic Monthly July 15/2 Therein are created minuscule hills with minuscule houses upon them, and microscopic ponds and rivulets spanned by tiny humped bridges.

1898 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 420 Only think of the minuscule touches of advance that Ictinus added to his predecessors' designs.

1904 Nutt's Catal. Sept. p. ix Sir Gawain at the Grail Castle. Three Versions, translated..by Jessie L. Weston. Minuscule 4to.

1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 17 Such minuscule militants as the boot and floor polish manufacturers.

1986 E. Longford Pebbled Shore (1988) xviii. 278 How long would our tenure last, with Labour's minuscule majority?

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	minuscule
释义	minusculen.adj. Brit. /ˈmɪnᵻskjuːl/, /ˈmɪnjᵿskjuːl/, /mɪˈnʌskjuːl/, U.S. /ˈmɪnəˌskjul/ Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French minuscule. Etymology: < French minuscule, adjective (1634 in sense B. 1, 1859 in sense B. 2) and noun (1690) < classical Latin minusculus somewhat smaller, rather small < minus minus adj. + -culus -cule suffix. Erasmus uses post-classical Latin minuscula (noun, short for littera minuscula ) and minusculus (adjective, in alpha minusculum ) of small or lower-case letters; the adjective is also found in Thomas More (1518) designating lower-case type. With use as adjective compare Italian minuscolo (1598 in Florio), Portuguese minúsculo (17th cent.), Spanish minúsculo (1734). With use as noun compare Italian minuscola (a1642). Compare majuscule adj. and n., and later miniscule n. and adj. (and see note below). N.E.D. (1906) gives only the pronunciation (minɒ·skiul) /mɪˈnʌskjuːl/. Pronunciations with stress on the first syllable are first recorded in dictionaries in 1961 (Webster) and 1963 (Jones, 12th ed.), where the previous editions of both dictionaries (1954, 1956 respectively) only record pronunciations with stress on the second syllable. The pronunciation with stress on the second syllable is still recorded as a variant in British usage in the 14th edition of Jones (revised S. Ramsaram, 1988). Notwithstanding this evidence, it seems likely that deliberate contrast with majuscule adj. and n. may frequently have forced stress on the first syllable, a hypothesis supported by the quite early emergence of the variant miniscule n. and adj., which is most easily explained as resulting from reduction of an unstressed medial vowel. A. n. 1. (a) Palaeography. A small letter, as opposed to a majuscule. (b) Chiefly Typography. A small or lower-case letter, as opposed to a capital. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [noun] > small letter minuscule1701 miniscule1871 society > communication > printing > printed matter > printed character(s) > [noun] > lower case or small letter minuscule1701 smalls1834 miniscule1871 1701 H. Wanley Let. 7 Apr. (1989) 159 Those sorts of Characters..are the Capitals; the Gothic..and the Large Spanish Letter of an Inch long, the Minuscules. 1705 H. Wanley in Philos. Trans. 1704–05 (Royal Soc.) 24 1996 Some MSS. written with Minuscules. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Minuscule, or Minusculæ, in Printing, are the small, or running Letters. 1782 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music II. 32 A notation for three octaves; the gravest of which he expressed by capitals, the mean by minuscules, and the highest by double letters. 1851 F. Palgrave Hist. Normandy & Eng. I. 228 The initial difference of a minuscule or a capital. 1927 Speculum 2 65 Only in the small minuscules used for capitula, does the apostrophe-sign occur. 1975 Lang. for Life (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) xi. 186 Linking minuscules is a case in point, for ligaturing needs to be practised in a way that will ensure increase of speed and continuity of movement. 1992 Amer. Speech 67 87 Gulf, region near the Persian Gulf, specif the Gulf War theater (used with initial minuscule in national publications). 2. Palaeography. A minuscule script (see sense B. 1). ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [noun] > minuscule minusculea1876 society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > according to type of writing pictograph1851 stenograph1856 cursive1861 minusculea1876 uncial1881 a1876 J. Eadie Comm. Thess. (1877) 23 A few minuscules read αὐτοὺς ἡμᾶς. 1883 I. Taylor Alphabet II. 160 The minuscule arose in the 7th century as a cursive monastic script. 1897 H. W. Johnston Latin MSS 70 Half-Uncials are derived from the uncials and represent the last efforts of the book hand to differentiate itself from the improved business hand of the time... It is also called the Roman Uncial and Pre-Caroline Minuscule. 1912 E. M. Thompson Introd. Greek & Lat. Palaeogr. xvi. 367 At Tours, where, under the rule of Alcuin of York, who was abbot of St. Martin's from 796 to 804, was specially developed the exact hand which has received the name of the Carolingian Minuscule. 1926 E. A. Lowe in C. G. Crump & E. F. Jacob Legacy of Middle Ages 209 Before developing a minuscule Irish calligraphers had created a majuscule, the Irish half-uncial as it is styled. 1957 N. R. Ker Catal. MSS containing Anglo-Saxon p. xxv The change from Anglo-Saxon minuscule to caroline minuscule..involved the duct of the handwriting of all manuscripts. 1980 M. Drogin Med. Calligr. iv. 50 We know the script today as Carolingian Minuscule, Carlovingian Minuscule, Caroline Half-Uncial, [etc.]. B. adj. 1. a. Chiefly Typography. Of a letter: small, lower-case. Now rare. ΘΚΠ society > communication > printing > printed matter > printed character(s) > [adjective] > lower-case or small lower case1683 minuscule1704 1704 Philos. Trans. 1702–3 (Royal Soc.) 23 1509 It has its Signatures all along in Minuscule Letters. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Letter Printers distinguish their letters into Capital, Majuscule, or Initial Letters..and Minuscule or Small Letters. 1854 G. F. Waagen Treasures of Art in Great Brit. I. ix. 309 The leaves are printed on both sides in rather dark ink; the text, in a small minuscule letter, is always to the left of the spectator. 1988 M. D. Zakharova tr. M. H. Riznyk Script & Print 62 The cast type set named Antique here forms a part of both capital and small (i.e. minuscule) letters. b. Palaeography. Of a letter: small. Also: designating, belonging to, or written in any of various regional scripts (developed from Later Roman Cursive) which emerged in the 7th and 8th centuries in western Europe, on some forms of which the lower-case letters of roman type were modelled.Frequently used spec. of the particular script known more fully as Caroline or Carolingian Minuscule, which was in widespread use in the West by the 12th century. Also used with reference to the Greek script adopted by the Byzantines in the 9th century as a substitute for uncial. ΘΚΠ society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > formation of letters > [adjective] > small minuscule1835 miniscule1874 1835 W. Y. Ottley (title) Observations on a manuscript in the British Museum, believed to be of the second or third century, containing Cicero's translation of the astronomical poem by Aratus, with a dissertation in proof of the use of minuscule writing by the ancient Romans. 1850 A. Way in Archæol. Jrnl. 7 356 A little mark at the close of the first line, resembling a minuscule C is somewhat indistinct. 1883 I. Taylor Alphabet I. 71 The letters of the beautiful minuscule manuscripts of the 10th and 11th centuries. These minuscule letters are cursive forms of the earlier uncials. 1900 Expositor Mar. 175 Annotations are found in the minuscule codices. 1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 729/2 The Glagolitic was founded upon the ordinary Greek minuscule writing of the period. 1947 Speculum 22 379 The marginalia, in various early minuscule scripts, are in some cases like the Corbie script. 1983 J. Hutchinson Letters iii. 78 Half uncial writing was made up generally of minuscule letters with an occasional capital letter. 2. gen. Extremely small, tiny. Also: unimportant. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > smallness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > very small in amount or degree superfine1575 tiny1598 minute1606 exiguous1630 myriate1665 delicate1692 miniature1714 infinitesimal1733 diminutive1741 weeny1790 inappreciable1802 teeny1802 scrumptious1834 teeny-weeny1842 teeny-tiny1849 tee-tiny1872 minuscule1878 the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > smallness > [adjective] > extremely small tinea1400 little weea1525 undersmall?1527 little little1542 perpusil1598 tiny1598 punctual1605 minute1606 pygmya1616 exiguous1630 atomical1646 minutulous1651 puncticular1658 arenulous1664 myriate1665 minimal1666 minim1671 infinitesimal1733 minutissim1768 weeny1790 midgety1798 teeny1802 pinpoint1807 atomic1809 homuncular1822 minnow1824 weeshy1825 pinhead1835 finitesimal1836 homoeopathic1838 teeny-weeny1842 teenty1844 teenty-taunty1844 teeny-tiny1849 submolecular1854 teensy1856 super-compact1860 midget1865 ultramicroscopic1870 pilulous1871 teensy-weensy1872 tee-tiny1872 minuscule1878 smitchy1888 eeny-weeny1894 eensy-weensy1904 pygmean1904 ultramicroscopical1904 bitsy1905 bitty1905 totty1906 millimetric1909 miniscule1909 minuscular1911 insectual1912 micro1931 eeny1933 eensy1940 submicrogram1941 submillimetre1954 diddy1963 mini1963 micro-mini1967 1878 Princeton Rev. July 74 In old times we might laugh at..the kinglets and the princelets..the minuscule aulic councillors of pocket-handkerchief dukedoms. 1892 Atlantic Monthly July 15/2 Therein are created minuscule hills with minuscule houses upon them, and microscopic ponds and rivulets spanned by tiny humped bridges. 1898 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 420 Only think of the minuscule touches of advance that Ictinus added to his predecessors' designs. 1904 Nutt's Catal. Sept. p. ix Sir Gawain at the Grail Castle. Three Versions, translated..by Jessie L. Weston. Minuscule 4to. 1963 Ann. Reg. 1962 17 Such minuscule militants as the boot and floor polish manufacturers. 1986 E. Longford Pebbled Shore (1988) xviii. 278 How long would our tenure last, with Labour's minuscule majority? This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.1701
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