Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Relating to small, non-capitalized letters: Describes letters of the alphabet that are not capital letters (e.g., a, b, c), as opposed to uppercase or capital letters (e.g., A, B, C).

2. Noun:

   • Small, non-capitalized letters: The set or style of characters that are not capital letters. These are the standard form used for the majority of text in English writing.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:

  • Please write your name in lowercase letters.
  • The password must contain at least one lowercase character.

• Noun:

  • The headline was written entirely in uppercase, but the body text is in lowercase.
  • You should avoid writing whole sentences in lowercase in formal emails.

Advanced Usage

• "to lowercase" (verb, less common): To convert text to small, non-capital letters.
  • The software can automatically lowercase all the selected text.

Variants and Related Words

• Lower-case (adjective/noun): An alternative hyphenated spelling with the same meaning.

  • The style guide specifies lower-case for all headings.

• Uppercase (adjective/noun): The antonym, relating to or consisting of capital letters (e.g., A, B, C).

Synonyms

• Small letters
• Minuscule (in typography, specifically referring to lowercase letters)

Antonyms

• Uppercase
• Capital letters
• Majuscule (in typography)

Adjective

1. relating to small (not capitalized) letters that were kept in the lower half of a compositor's type case; a and b and c etc"
   • lowercase letters

Noun

1. the characters that were once kept in bottom half of a compositor's type case