lowercase

[loh-er-keys]

adjective

1. (of an alphabetic letter) of a particular form often different from and smaller than its corresponding capital letter, and occurring after the initial letter of a proper noun, of the first word in a sentence, etc.

   The lowercase letters a, b, q, and r have more distinctive shapes than their uppercase counterparts, A, B, Q, and R.

2. Printing.,  pertaining to or belonging in the lower case, such as i, p, or d.

verb (used with object)

lowercased, lowercasing 

1. to print or write with a lowercase letter or letters, such as u, w, or j.

noun

1. a lowercase letter, such as z, y, or k.

Word History and Origins

Origin of lowercase¹

First recorded in 1675–85; lower ¹ ( def. ) + case ² ( def. ) (in the sense “a tray divided into compartments for holding types for a compositor to use”)

Example Sentences

The x-height is the height of most lowercase letters in the Latin alphabet, and makes up nearly all of the printed marks on a page.

From BBC

In one test, for instance, students are given one minute to name as many uppercase and lowercase letters listed on a page as they can.

From Los Angeles Times

Unified, student Maria Arriaga will be timed to see how many uppercase and lowercase letters she can name in a minute.

From Los Angeles Times

It can be a sort of lowercase "t" online trauma.

From Salon

“Quitting with a lowercase ‘q’” is how she puts it.

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does lowercase mean?

Lowercase is used to describe the shorter, smaller versions of letters (like w), called lowercase letters, as opposed to the bigger, taller versions (like W), which are called uppercase letters or capital letters.Lowercase can also be used as a noun meaning the same thing as lowercase letter, though this is much less commonly used. The adjective uppercase can also be used as a noun in this way. As an adjective, uppercase means the same thing as capital, and uppercase letters can also be called capitals.Some lowercase letters are just shorter, smaller versions of their uppercase counterparts (like lowercase w and uppercase W or lowercase c and uppercase C), but in many cases the two versions of the letter take different forms altogether, such as lowercase a and uppercase A or lowercase b and uppercase B.To capitalize a word is to make its first letter a capital or uppercase letter. The word uppercase can be used as a verb to mean the same thing. The word lowercase can be used as a verb meaning to make a letter lowercase. For example, to lowercase the word Polish (which is here spelled with an uppercase p), you would write it with a lowercase P, as polish.In English, uppercase letters are used at the beginning of words for a few different reasons. It is considered a standard rule of English to use an uppercase letter to start proper nouns (which are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or things—meaning one’s that have specific names), such as Jess, Mexico, and Nintendo. Using an uppercase or lowercase letter at the start of a word can change the way the reader interprets its meaning, as in the case of polish (a verb meaning to make something shinier) and Polish (an adjective describing someone from Poland) or apple (the fruit) and Apple (the company).We also use an uppercase letter for the first letter of the first word in a sentence. Sometimes, we use an uppercase letter for the first letter of each word in a title, as in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. This is sometimes called title case.Some acronyms and abbreviations are written using all uppercase letters, such as NASA and U.S. A word written entirely in uppercase letters (like WHAT) is said to be written in caps or all caps.Using lowercase letters in any of these cases typically indicates that the communication is casual or informal, such as in text messages or online posts.Example: A lot of people exclusively use lowercase letters in text messages unless they want to emphasize something.