I’ve always prided myself on my vocabulary, a vocabulary gleaned from my vast reading over the years. This vocabulary doesn’t translate to speaking because many words I know and know how to use I don’t know how to pronounce, and I’m leery of using such words ever since I was made fun of at a young age for mispronouncing “macabre.” At the time, I was being driven home by the father of the children I’d been babysitting, and for some reason I used the word, pronouncing it as “mackaber.” I still remember his laughter. So, since I’ve never been able to handle being made fun of, I only use words that everyone else does, though I don’t hesitate to use any word I wish in my writing, confident that my spelling is correct.
Well, I was confident until yesterday. I was writing something, I don’t even remember where or what, and I used the word “miniscule,” which is how I’ve always seen the word written. Whatever spell check that particular site was using flagged it as wrong, and said the word was “minuscule.”
Not believing the program since I’d never seen that spelling and since neither MSWord nor my blog has ever flagged the word, I looked it up online, and sure enough, the word is “minuscule.” How is it that I have lived all these decades and not known that? It’s also pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable. I did not know that either.
Further reading tells the story. “Minuscule” used to refer to lower case letters (the minus coming from Latin meaning less) as opposed to “majuscule,” referring to uppercase letters. It seems to me that since “minuscule” refers to something being simply lesser, rather than something very tiny, “miniscule” (pronounced with its emphasis on the first syllable) should be a word in its own right.
And it’s getting there. Although “miniscule” is still considered a typo by purists (which I thought I was but apparently am not), the correct spelling is “minuscule.”
Except when it’s not. “Miniscule” has been used since 1871, though it wasn’t until the 1940s that it became an accepted variation that wasn’t always flagged as a typo. My print dictionary includes “miniscule,” and mentioned that it’s a variation of “minuscule.” So whew! Maybe I’m not as far off as I thought I was.
So even though it may or may not be a full-fledged word, I will continue using “miniscule.” It sounds like what it should mean: something vanishingly small.
It is funny, though, that a word such as minuscule/miniscule is only slowly evolving, but other words are almost instantaneously accepted, like my most unfavorite word, “veggie.”
Oh, well. I learned something, which is always a good thing, even if it did deflate my already under-inflated ego.
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One
Bertram's Blog 
June 15, 2026 at 7:14 am
I absolutely love this little journey through words, and I definitely relate to discovering you’ve been confidently “wrong” for years.
Language really is a funny thing. It evolves faster than our egos can keep up sometimes!
June 15, 2026 at 8:57 am
So very true that it evolves faster than our egos can keep up. Oh, well. It’s the nature of the beast, I guess.
June 15, 2026 at 1:07 pm
I guess that I have been incorrect since I learned to spell in grade school. I, too, spelled it miniscule?What is wrong with me? Now that I have a new spelling at 82, will I remember it? I doubt it. Maybe, it is just Brits who spell it the other way.
June 15, 2026 at 2:25 pm
I’m sticking with miniscule. Makes more sense to me.
June 16, 2026 at 4:30 pm
Are you and I starting a revolution? At our age is that even possible?
June 16, 2026 at 7:16 pm
Of course it’s possible to start a revolution at our age. As long as we don’t have to leave home, or stand out in the heat, or argue with people or . . . Well, maybe a revolution isn’t possible at that.
June 17, 2026 at 3:01 pm
love your understanding of the situation and our combined weaknesses.
June 15, 2026 at 8:02 pm
Fascinating. Sadly I’ve never been able to spell (or add up, or tell left from right), so I was immediately ready to believe the different spelling (but had no idea as to the meaning – learned something new thanks to you).
June 15, 2026 at 8:24 pm
It seems as if we all learned something new!
June 16, 2026 at 8:20 pm
Thanks very much! I’m sure I would always spell it miniscule, though I am not sure I *have* spelled it….
I think I won’t worry about it, but I won’t forget your informing me ❤