majuscule

ma·jus·cule

noun \ˈma-jəs-ˌkyül, mə-ˈjəs-\

Definition of MAJUSCULE

: a large letter (as a capital)

— ma·jus·cu·lar \mə-ˈjəs-kyə-lər\ adjective

— majuscule adjective

Origin of MAJUSCULE

French, from Latin majusculus rather large, diminutive of major

First Known Use: circa 1825

Rhymes with MAJUSCULE

April fool, Barnaul, blow one's cool, boarding school, charter school, common school, cutty stool, dirty pool, ducking stool, fascicule, gallinule, grammar school, graticule, groupuscule, Hartlepool, Istanbul, kilojoule, lenticule, Liverpool, machine tool, magnet school, middle school, minischool, minuscule, molecule, motor pool, normal school, nursery school, overrule, private school, public school, reform school, reticule, ridicule, summer school, Sunday school, training school, vestibule, wading pool

majuscule

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Uppercase, capital, or large letter in calligraphy, in contrast to the minuscule, lowercase, or small letter. All the letters in a majuscule script are contained between a single pair of real or theoretical horizontal lines. The earliest known Roman majuscule letters are in the style known as square capitals, distinguished by downstrokes that are heavier than upstrokes and by serifs (short strokes at right angles to the top and bottom of a letter). Square capitals were used mainly in inscriptions on Roman imperial monuments. Rustic capitals, used in books and official documents, formed a freer, more elliptical script. Roman cursive capitals, a running-hand script used for notes and letters, were a forerunner of the minuscule scripts that appeared later.