lowercase

[ loh-er-keys ]

adjective
  1. (of an alphabetic letter) of a particular form often different from and smaller than its corresponding capital letter, and occurring after the initial letter of a proper noun, of the first word in a sentence, etc. The lowercase letters a, b, q, and r have more distinctive shapes than their uppercase counterparts, A, B, Q, and R.

  2. Printing. pertaining to or belonging in the lower case, such as i, p, or d.: Compare case2 (def. 8).

verb (used with object),low·er·cased, low·er·cas·ing.
  1. to print or write with a lowercase letter or letters, such as u, w, or j.

noun
  1. a lowercase letter, such as z, y, or k.

Origin of lowercase

1
First recorded in 1675–85; lower1 + case2 (in the sense “a tray divided into compartments for holding types for a compositor to use”)

Words Nearby lowercase

Other definitions for lower case (2 of 2)

lower case
[ loh-er ]

nounPrinting.
  1. See under case2 (def. 8).

Origin of lower case

2
First recorded in 1675–85

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lowercase in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lower case

lower case

noun
  1. a compositor's type case, in which the small letters are kept

adjectivelower-case
  1. of or relating to small letters

verblower-case
  1. (tr) to print with lower-case letters

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012