minuscule

American  

[min-uh-skyool, mi-nuhs-kyool] / ˈmɪn əˌskjul, mɪˈnʌs kjul /

adjective

1. very small.

2. (of letters or writing) small; not capital.

3. written in such letters (opposed to majuscule).

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noun

• minuscules
  plural

1. a minuscule letter.

2. a small cursive script developed in the 7th century a.d. from the uncial, which it afterward superseded.

minuscule British  

/ ˈmɪnəˌskjuːl /

noun

1. a lower-case letter

2. writing using such letters

3. a small cursive 7th-century style of lettering derived from the uncial

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adjective

1. relating to, printed in, or written in small letters Compare majuscule

2. very small

3. (of letters) lower-case

Spelling

Minuscule, from Latin minus meaning “less,” has frequently come to be spelled miniscule, perhaps under the influence of the prefix mini- in the sense “of a small size.” Although this newer spelling is criticized by many, it occurs with such frequency in edited writing that some consider it a variant spelling rather than a misspelling.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• minuscular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• minuscules
  plural

Etymology

Origin of minuscule

First recorded in 1695–1705; from Latin minusculus “smallish, pretty small, minor”; see minus, -cule ¹

Explanation

When something is teeny tiny, it is minuscule. If your mother calls your miniskirt minuscule, it probably means she wants you to change into something a bit less revealing. In minuscule, you see the word, minus, which means lesser. The word minuscule has its roots in the Latin expression minuscula littera, a phrase used to describe the smaller letters in text. In the late 1800s, the use of the word expanded to mean very small in general — so the definition of minuscule became less minuscule.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

minuscule minuscules

The northern route is "a temporary and minuscule solution with regards to the overall needs", De Ricqles said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

“Heretic” was underbaked and half-thought, while “Companion” tried to create big laughs and bigger action from minuscule ideas.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

A Welsh Labour source close to the UK government described the cut as "minuscule" on Tuesday.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Both of them are black, and at a school with a population of about 2,000, they represent a statistically significant portion of the college’s minuscule black population.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026

In 1986, in an astonishing experiment, Nüsslein-Volhard’s students learned to prick a normal fly embryo with a minuscule needle, withdraw a droplet of liquid from its head, and transplant it into the headless mutants.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Bousset has argued that the readings in the Pauline epistles found in אc H and a few minuscules represent the text used by Pamphilus, and on the whole this view seems to be highly probable.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

Written in regular Italian minuscules of the 15th century, formed on the models of the 11th and 12th centuries.

From Catalogue of the William Loring Andrews Collection of Early Books in the Library of Yale University by Addison Van Name

If minuscules are used, the words should be transliterated as quinque, queen, Europe, according to the practice of the old printers themselves.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

These agree in the main, but differ for the more recently discovered minuscules.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Slice 7 "Bible" to "Bisectrix" by Various

Mark, and John, in small Caroline minuscules, but with a large capital at the beginning of St. Mark and interlaced ornamentation.

From A Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, Vol. II. by Frederick Henry Ambrose Scrivener

Related Words

• insignificant
• microscopic
• small
• tiny