different between minuscule vs lowercase

English

Alternative forms

• miniscule (originally a misspelling, but now so common that it has come to be considered an alternative spelling by many)

Etymology

From French minuscule, from Latin minuscula, feminine of minusculus (“rather less, rather small”), from minus (“less, smaller”) + -culus (diminutive suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?.n??skju?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?m?.n??skjul/, /m??n??skjul/

Noun

minuscule (plural minuscules)

1. A lowercase letter.
2. Either of the two medieval handwriting styles minuscule cursive and Caroline minuscule.
3. A letter in these styles.

Translations

Adjective

minuscule (comparative more minuscule, superlative most minuscule)

1. Written in minuscules, lowercase.
2. Written in minuscule handwriting style.
3. Very small; tiny.

Synonyms

• (written in minuscules): lower-case, small
• (very small): microscopic; minute; tiny
• See also Thesaurus:tiny

Antonyms

• (lower-case): majuscule, uppercase

Translations

Usage notes

See the usage notes at miniscule

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.nys.kyl/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin minusculus.

Adjective

minuscule (plural minuscules)

1. tiny, minute, minuscule
2. (typography) lowercase

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of lettre minuscule.

Noun

minuscule f (plural minuscules)

1. (typography) a minuscule, a lower case

   Antonym: majuscule

Further reading

• “minuscule” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /mi?nus.ku.le/, [m??n?s?k????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /mi?nus.ku.le/, [mi?nuskul?]

Adjective

minuscule

1. vocative masculine singular of minusculus

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mi?nus.ku.le]

Adjective

minuscule

1. feminine plural nominative of minuscul
2. feminine plural accusative of minuscul
3. neuter plural nominative of minuscul
4. neuter plural accusative of minuscul

English

Alternative forms

• (noun): lower case
• (adjective and adverb): lower-case

Etymology

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l??.?(?)?ke?s/

Noun

lowercase (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of lower case

Adjective

lowercase (not comparable)

1. in lower case

Translations

Verb

lowercase (third-person singular simple present lowercases, present participle lowercasing, simple past and past participle lowercased)

1. (transitive) To convert (text) to lower case.