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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Very small; tiny. See Synonyms at small.
  2. adj. Of, relating to, or written in minuscule.
  3. n. A small cursive script developed from uncial between the seventh and ninth centuries and used in medieval manuscripts.
  4. n. A letter written in minuscule.
  5. n. A lowercase letter.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Small; of reduced form, as a letter; of or pertaining to writing in minuscule.
  2. n. The kind of reduced alphabetical character which, originating in the seventh century, was from about the ninth substituted in writing for the large uncial previously in use, and from which the small letter of modern Greek and Roman alphabets was derived; hence, a small or lower-case letter in writing or printing, as distinguished from a capital or majuscule.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A lower-case letter.
  2. n. Any of the two medieval handwriting styles minuscule cursive and Caroline minuscule.
  3. n. A letter in these styles.
  4. adj. Written in minuscules, lower-case.
  5. adj. Written in minuscule handwriting style.
  6. adj. Very small, tiny.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. Any very small, minute object.
  2. n. A small Roman letter which is neither capital nor uncial; a manuscript written in such letters.
  3. adj. Of or relating to a minuscule{2} or of a script written in minuscules{2}; of the size and style of minuscules{2}; written in minuscules{2}; minuscular.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a small cursive script developed from uncial between the 7th and 9th centuries and used in medieval manuscripts
  2. adj. very small
  3. n. the characters that were once kept in bottom half of a compositor's type case
  4. adj. of or relating to a small cursive script developed from uncial; 7th to 9th centuries
  5. adj. lowercase.

Etymologies

  1. French, from Latin minusculus, rather small, diminutive of minus, neuter of minor, smaller; see mei-2 in Indo-European roots.

Examples

  • “ROIG-FRANZIA: Well, today, George Felos said that she has received what he described as a minuscule amount of morphine, not the morphine drip that had been reported in some venues, but a suppository of 50 milligrams of morphine that had been administered twice since her feeding tube was removed.”

    CNN Transcript Mar 28, 2005

  • “Griffin said he could "promise DRS a very healthy and robust legal challenge" if the state tries to recoup what he called "minuscule" sales taxes that may have been generated when there was still a relationship with the affiliates and the law was in effect.”

    The Seattle Times

  • “Roberts described for the jury a high intensity, high-risk home invasion by cops for what he called a minuscule amount of drugs.”

    Blog updates

  • “The scientists involved spent years collecting urine and searching for the protein, because they knew it should be there in minuscule amounts.”

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Gene Patent(s?) Invalidated:

  • “Now … despite all the cries about e-books being the wave of the future, sales numbers remain minuscule by comparison to hardcovers and paperbacks.”

    Why Amazon and Some Readers Are Wrong « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website

  • “Reading a 5,000 word contract printed in minuscule print, full of legalese, is one thing, understanding it is a totally different thing.”

    Think Progress » Pentagon Pushes For A Strong Consumer Agency To Protect Troops From Abusive Financial Practices

  • “Girls dressed in minuscule outfits brought the wallflowers out of their shells and onto the dance floor as grooved to their rocking sounds.”

    The Edison Bar Downtown: A Touch of Class on New Years

  • “We were exposed to Shakespeare but in minuscule amounts.”

    A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

  • “The awards were announced midafternoon on Friday -- in plenty of time for newspaper deadlines -- but rated only a mention in some major Saturday papers, including The Globe which ran only a brief, as we call minuscule stories, and then in only some editions and the National Post.”

    Archive 2006-10-01

  • “If you’re an average-sized guy, and there’s barely room for your tray table to open, it would take a passel of supermodel flight attendants in minuscule bikinis to compensate for that on a 2-hour flight. matt Says:”

    Matthew Yglesias » Choose Delta

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‘minuscule’ has been looked up 1771 times, loved by 3 people, added to 19 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 13.