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MAJUSCULE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
One of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing proper names and sometimes for emphasis
Example:
printers once kept the type for capitals and for small letters in separate cases; capitals were kept in the upper half of the type case and so became known as upper-case letters
Synonyms:
capital; capital letter; majuscule; upper-case letter; uppercase
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("majuscule" is a kind of...):
character; graph; grapheme; graphic symbol (a written symbol that is used to represent speech)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "majuscule"):
small cap; small capital (a character having the form of an upper-case letter but the same height as lower-case letters)
Derivation:
majuscular (of the nature of a majuscule or written in majuscules)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Uppercase
Example:
many medieval manuscripts are in majuscule script
Synonyms:
capital; great; majuscule
Classified under:
Similar:
uppercase (relating to capital letters which were kept in the top half of a compositor's type case)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of or relating to a style of writing characterized by somewhat rounded capital letters; 4th to 8th centuries
Classified under:
Similar:
majuscular (of the nature of a majuscule or written in majuscules)
Also:
uppercase (relating to capital letters which were kept in the top half of a compositor's type case)
Antonym:
minuscule (of or relating to a small cursive script developed from uncial; 7th to 9th centuries)
