Minuscule

A small letter. "Minuscule" appeared in the early 18th century as a word for certain ancient and medieval writing styles that had "small forms." Eventually, it came to be used for any lowercase letter. "Minuscule" then acquired a more general adjectival use for anything very small. "Majuscule" is the counterpart to "minuscule" when it comes to letters, although it is not used as the opposite to miniscule in its last sense.(pr. MI-nə-skyool)Also see lowercase, miniature, size, and uppercase.