minuscule

1 of 2

adjective

mi·nus·cule ˈmi-nə-ˌskyül

also mi-ˈnə-

Synonyms of minuscule

: very small

minuscule amounts

: written in or in the size or style of minuscules

minuscule

2 of 2

noun

: a lowercase letter

: one of several ancient and medieval writing styles developed from cursive and having simplified and small forms

: a letter in this style

Did you know?

Minuscule comes from the Latin adjective minusculus ("somewhat smaller" or "fairly small"), which in turn pairs the base of minus ("smaller") with -culus, a diminutive suffix (that is, one indicating small size). The minuscule spelling is consistent with the word’s etymology, but that didn’t stop English speakers from adopting the variant spelling miniscule, likely because they associated it with the combining form mini- and such words as minimal and minimum. Usage commentators generally consider the miniscule spelling an error, but it is widely used in reputable and carefully edited publications, and is accepted as a legitimate variant in some dictionaries. (Our own dictionary identifies miniscule as a "disputed spelling variant.")

Examples of minuscule in a Sentence

Adjective public health officials have claimed that the chemical is harmless in such minuscule amounts

Recent Examples on the Web

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Adjective

Other than minuscule amounts of state funding in some cases and a smattering of private donations, tribal colleges that lose any federal funding have few other sources of income. —Matt Krupnick, ProPublica, 10 Mar. 2025 The birds are already minuscule and delicate, and many of the ones Masear works with are babies whose mothers have disappeared or died, which puts them in even greater peril. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025 So far, only government space agencies from the United States and Japan have brought minuscule samples from asteroids back to Earth at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. —Jackie Wattles, CNN, 25 Feb. 2025 The academy’s two-pronged goal is to diversify the ranks of archeologists, a minuscule fraction of whom are Black, and to include people from across the diaspora in the study of its history. —Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 24 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for minuscule

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

borrowed from French & New Latin; French, "lower case (of a letter)," borrowed from New Latin minusculus, going back to Latin, "somewhat smaller, fairly small," from the base of minor, minus "smaller" (comparative of parvus "small") + -culus, diminutive suffix — more at minor entry 1

Noun

borrowed from French & New Latin; French, borrowed from New Latin minuscula (short for littera minuscula "smaller letter"), from feminine of Latin minusculus "somewhat smaller" — more at minuscule entry 1

First Known Use

Adjective

1703, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun

1701, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of minuscule was in 1701

See more words from the same year