Word of the Day

: March 11, 2017

minuscule

adjective MIN-uh-skyool

What It Means

1 : written in or in the size or style of lowercase letters

2 : very small

minuscule in Context

The number of bugs in the latest version of the computer program is minuscule compared to the number that surfaced in the earlier version.

"What's essentially a minuscule contact lens that never has to be removed or cleaned is changing the way people address near vision challenges." — Kristi King, WTOP.com, 14 Feb. 2017

Did You Know?

Minuscule derives from the Latin adjective minusculus, which means "rather small." The minuscule spelling is consistent with the word's etymology, but since the 19th century, people have also been spelling it miniscule, perhaps because they associate it with the combining form mini- and words such 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.