Uncial Definition

ŭnshəl, -sē-əl
adjective
Designating or of a form of large, rounded letter used in the script of Greek and Latin manuscripts between a.d. 300 and 900
Webster's New World

(rare) Of, or relating to an ounce, or an inch, especially to letters printed an inch high.

Wiktionary
noun
A style of writing characterized by somewhat rounded capital letters. It provided the model from which most of the capital letters in the modern Latin alphabet are derived.
American Heritage
An uncial letter.
Webster's New World
An uncial manuscript.
Webster's New World
Uncial script.
Webster's New World
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Other Word Forms of Uncial

Noun

Singular:
uncial
Plural:
uncials

Origin of Uncial

  • Attested 1712, from Late Latin unciales (“uncials"), unciales litterae (“uncial letters") (Jerome), plural of uncialis (“pertaining to one twelfth part, ounce, or inch"), from uncia (“one twelfth part, ounce, inch"). The literal meaning is unclear: some references indicate "inch-high letters", but see “Uncial script" in Wikipedia.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Late Latin ūnciālēs (litterae) inch-high (letters), uncials pl. of Latin ūnciālis inch-high from ūncia a twelfth part, ounce, inch oi-no- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Attested 1650, from Latin uncia (“one twelfth part, ounce, inch").

    From Wiktionary

Uncial Sentence Examples

  • The first method distinguishes between uncial or majuscule, and cursive or minuscule; the second between papyrus, vellum or parchment, and paper (for further details see Manuscript and Palaeography); and the third distinguishes mainly between Gospels, Acts and Epistles (with or without the Apocalypse), New Testaments (the word in this connexion being somewhat broadly interpreted), lectionaries and commentaries.

  • There are said to be uncial MSS.

  • He abandons the practice of making a distinction between uncial and minuscule, on the ground that for textual criticism the style of writing is less important than the date and contents of a MS. To indicate these he divided MSS.

  • C, von Soden S 3; an uncial palimpsest (the top writing being that of Ephraem) of the 5th century.

  • B and in the other uncial MSS., (b) that preserved in the cursive codex 248 (Holmes and Parsons).

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Uncial Is Also Mentioned In

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Words Starting With

UUNUNC

Words Ending With

LALIAL

Unscrambles

uncial

Words Starting With U and Ending With L

Starts With U & Ends With LStarts With UN & Ends With LStarts With U & Ends With AL

Word Length

6 Letter Words6 Letter Words Starting With U6 Letter Words Ending With L