majuscule

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The Word of the Day for October 3 is:

majuscule   \MAJ-uh-skyool\   noun 
      : a large letter (as a capital) 

Example sentence: 
      I can always recognize my brother's handwriting at a quick glance based 
on how elaborately the majuscules are formed and how they dwarf the other 
letters.

Did you know? 
      "Majuscule" looks like the complement to "minuscule," and the resemblance 
is no coincidence. "Minuscule" appeared in the early 18th century as a word for 
a lowercase letter, then later as the word for certain ancient and medieval 
writing styles which had "small forms." "Minuscule" then acquired a more 
general adjectival use for anything very small. "Majuscule" is the counterpart 
to "minuscule" when it comes to letters, but it never developed a broader sense 
(despite the fact that its Latin ancestor "majusculus" has the broad meaning 
"rather large"). The adjective "majuscule" also exists (as does "majuscular"). 
Not surprisingly, the adjective shares the noun's specificity, referring only 
to large letters or to a style using such letters. 





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