minúsculo

Forms

minúsculo (feminine minúscula, masculine plural minúsculos, feminine plural minúsculas)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned borrowing, borrowed from Latin minusculus (“rather small”), a diminutive of minor (“smaller, lesser”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The Latin adjective is built with the suffix -culus on the old s-stem seen in the neuter minus.^[6][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is a text from before 1710, in the feminine plural minusculas;^[2][3] Cunha dates the word to the 17th century.^[2][3] Morais's dictionary of 1789 enters it for small letters, as opposed to capitals.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The first dictionary sense is the one of writing: small letters, as opposed to capitals.^[8][9] The modern language uses the word above all for anything very small, and figuratively for what is of little worth.^[2][10][11] Houaiss also records an exaggerating use, too small by ordinary standards, and the typographic noun for a lower-case character.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1710 – first record, minusculas.^[2]
• 1789 – Morais defines the letters so called, opposed to capitals.^[8]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira derives it from Latin minusculus.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Very small, tiny, minute: uma aranha minúscula.^[2][10][1]
2. (figurative) Of little value or importance; insignificant.^[2][11][5]
3. Small and delicate.^[2]
4. (typography) lower-case, of the small form of the letters, as opposed to maiúsculo.^{[2][12][13][1]}

Word family

• minúscula

Related words

• maiúsculo
• menor
• minúcia
• Latin minusculus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. minúsculo
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. minúcia
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. minúsculo
5. ^ a b Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. minúsculo
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. minusculus
7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. minusculus
8. ^ a b c Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 84
9. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 260
10. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. minúsculo
11. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. minúsculo
12. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6199
13. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. minúsculo