minuscule
very small
TRANSLATION
minuscule = winzig --- GOOGLE INDEX minuscule: approximately 12,700,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Global grain use for biofuels is MINUSCULE and nowhere near enough to inflate prices significantly. Singling out biofuels for blame for rising food prices is simply reckless and only serves to damage public confidence in good biofuels", said ePURE's Secretary General Rob Vierhout.
(BBC News)
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The number of smart devices consumers have in their lives today is MINUSCULE compared with the number of smart devices we will have in the future.
(Time magazine)
(BBC News)
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The number of smart devices consumers have in their lives today is MINUSCULE compared with the number of smart devices we will have in the future.
(Time magazine)
Did you
know?
minuscule
adjective
- extremely small
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
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Minuscule is from the Latin minuscule and the phrase "in minuscule littera," meaning slightly smaller letter, by way of the French minuscule (17th century).
Minuscule refers to a small cursive script of the Roman alphabet that developed in the 7th century and which was used in medieval transcripts. It is also referred to as new Roman cursive. It was used to distinguish lower-case letters from capitals or majuscule. The minuscule is where the small letters of the modern Greek and Roman alphabets derived.
Our modern use of upper case (capital) and lower case (small) letters stems from the Greek and Roman minuscule/majuscule styles where the majuscule was used to emphasize titles and initials.
Minuscule began to be used in the sense of "very small" in the 18th century. This usage stemmed from the printing term minuscule (as opposed to majuscule). The word minuscule is often spelled miniscule, by association with the unrelated word miniature and the prefix mini-.
This has traditionally been regarded as a spelling mistake since minuscule is derived from the word minus. It is now so common that some dictionaries tend to accept it as a nonstandard or variant spelling. However, miniscule is still less likely to be used to describe lower-case letters.
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SYNONYMS
diminutive, insignificant, microscopic, minute, small, tiny, unimportant
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Our share of the market is minuscule but highly profitable ."
adjective
- extremely small
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
---
Minuscule is from the Latin minuscule and the phrase "in minuscule littera," meaning slightly smaller letter, by way of the French minuscule (17th century).
Minuscule refers to a small cursive script of the Roman alphabet that developed in the 7th century and which was used in medieval transcripts. It is also referred to as new Roman cursive. It was used to distinguish lower-case letters from capitals or majuscule. The minuscule is where the small letters of the modern Greek and Roman alphabets derived.
Our modern use of upper case (capital) and lower case (small) letters stems from the Greek and Roman minuscule/majuscule styles where the majuscule was used to emphasize titles and initials.
Minuscule began to be used in the sense of "very small" in the 18th century. This usage stemmed from the printing term minuscule (as opposed to majuscule). The word minuscule is often spelled miniscule, by association with the unrelated word miniature and the prefix mini-.
This has traditionally been regarded as a spelling mistake since minuscule is derived from the word minus. It is now so common that some dictionaries tend to accept it as a nonstandard or variant spelling. However, miniscule is still less likely to be used to describe lower-case letters.
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SYNONYMS
diminutive, insignificant, microscopic, minute, small, tiny, unimportant
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Our share of the market is minuscule but highly profitable ."
