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prettygoodwordmajuscule (muh-JUHS-kyool, MAJ-uh-skyool) - adj., (of a letter) capital; written or printed large, in either capital or unical form. n., a majuscule letter.
In modern, non-specialist use, the formal name of upper case, and counterpart of minuscule or lower case -- but unlike minuscule, it never developed a broader sense. Originally, as a technical term in paleography, a majuscule script is one where the letters have very few or no ascenders and descenders, AS IN ALL CAPS. Note that the correct spelling of the antonym is with a -u- -- comes not from mini- but from minus. As for this one, it was adopted in the 1720s from Latin majuscula (littera), somewhat bigger (letter), from the diminutive of major, bigger.
---L.
In modern, non-specialist use, the formal name of upper case, and counterpart of minuscule or lower case -- but unlike minuscule, it never developed a broader sense. Originally, as a technical term in paleography, a majuscule script is one where the letters have very few or no ascenders and descenders, AS IN ALL CAPS. Note that the correct spelling of the antonym is with a -u- -- comes not from mini- but from minus. As for this one, it was adopted in the 1720s from Latin majuscula (littera), somewhat bigger (letter), from the diminutive of major, bigger.
---L.
