lowercase

1 of 3

adjective

low·​er·​case ˌlō-ər-ˈkās How to pronounce lowercase (audio)
of a letter
: having as its typical form a f g or b n i rather than A F G or B N I
lowercase noun

lowercase

2 of 3

verb

lowercased; lowercasing

transitive verb

: to print or set in lowercase letters

lower case

3 of 3

noun

: a type case containing lowercase letters and usually figures, punctuation marks, spaces, and quads (see quad entry 2) compare upper case

Examples of lowercase in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Note that while titles such as duke are similarly lowercase when used on their own, we uppercase phrases such as the Duke of Wellington when duke is part of a phrase with a location. WSJ, 16 Sep. 2022 Little ones will get a kick out of this bug-themed scavenger hunt —and learn to tell the difference between their upper and lowercase letters in the process. Marisa Iallonardo, Good Housekeeping, 28 Dec. 2022 Three upper- and lowercase letters are introduced at the time. Karen Cicero, Good Housekeeping, 20 Oct. 2022 At the bottom ruling all the low-level instructions was a computer language called basic (all lowercase, not to be confused with the programming language called BASIC, all caps, developed in the 1970s). Amy Shira Teitel, Discover Magazine, 23 May 2019 One side has the letter written out in upper and lowercase, and the other has the hand position for that letter in American Sign Language. Rachel Rothman, Good Housekeeping, 14 Oct. 2022 Meet the Euler-Mascheroni constant 𝛾, which is a lowercase Greek gamma. Dave Linkletter, Popular Mechanics, 22 July 2022 While plus signs and all-lowercase names were printed on what seemed like every restaurant’s window, there were also other trends brewing. Maggie Hennessy, Bon Appétit, 7 Apr. 2022 The accountants group tells us that AICPA is generally used for tax issues that are U.S.-specific, and Association (which would be lowercase in our style) for more-global issues/priorities. WSJ, 17 Jan. 2022
Verb
The project’s title is lowercased intentionally to address the hierarchies that capitalization can reinforce in our culture. Chadd Scott, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2023 Kindergartners sit cross-legged at the front of the classroom as Hess shows slides of letters in upper and lowercase next to accompanying images. oregonlive, 25 Dec. 2022 And lowercase creativity is exactly what the AI generators deliver. Kevin Kelly, WIRED, 17 Nov. 2022 That's the single, lowercase word that kicked off a flurry of one-word tweets from brands and average Twitter users alike on Thursday. Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 2 Sep. 2022 The text of the proposal is littered with random capitalization, because some things are too important to lowercase. Lizzie Johnson, SFChronicle.com, 13 July 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lowercase.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from the compositor's practice of keeping such types in the lower of a pair of type cases

First Known Use

Adjective

1683, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1895, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1683, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of lowercase was in 1683

Dictionary Entries Near lowercase

Cite this Entry

“Lowercase.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lowercase. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

lowercase

adjective
low·​er·​case
ˌlō(-ə)r-ˈkās
: being a letter having as its typical form a, b, c rather than A, B, C
lowercase noun

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