minusculus

Forms

minusculus (feminine minuscula, neuter minusculum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin minor² (“smaller, less”) + -culus, a diminutive,^[2][1][3] built on the old ⟨s⟩-final stem of the comparative that is also seen in the neuter minus.^[1][4] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of minor², which goes back to Proto-Italic *minōs (“less”) and Proto-Indo-European *meih1-iō̆s- (“less”).^[5] He also derives mīscellus (“very small”) from *minuscellus, a diminutive of this word.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus on:^[5][6] in the Trinummus a character speaks of a second, rather short name, and in the Poenulus of a little courtesan.^[4][7]

Semantic evolution

It means somewhat smaller or rather small, of size, extent or age:^[2][4] Cato has small casks and smaller varieties of grape, Varro a smaller aviary, and Cicero a small country house and a rather short letter, in contrast to a very long one.^[4][7][8] Vitruvius uses it of a smaller theatre and of the lesser Dog Star.^[4] It also meant of less importance: Varro reports that the Ides of June were called the lesser Quinquatrus.^[2][8]

Late writers kept it: Ambrose has a small bird and the tender age of little children, and the Justinian Code a smaller portion.^[4] British medieval writers use it for “somewhat smaller” and “of minor importance”,^[9] and Thomas More speaks of the small Aldine type, minusculis Aldi formulis.^[9] From the phrase minuscula littera, “a rather small letter”, came French and English minuscule.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a short name and a little courtesan.^[4][6]
• 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of small casks.^[2][6]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the lesser Quinquatrus.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a small country house.^[7][6]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose uses it of a small bird.^[4][6]
• 1705 – English borrows minuscule from French, for a small letter.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Somewhat smaller, rather small (in size, extent or age).^[2][7][4]
2. Less important, minor.^[2][9]
3. Of printing type, small, lower-case.^[9]

Word family

• minuscularius

Related words

• minor²
• maiusculus
• English minuscule

Usage notes

The TLL compares maiusculus, formed in the same way from maior.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com