Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Uncial

Definition: Uncial

Uncial

Adjective

1. Relating to or written in majuscule letters (which resemble modern capitals); "uncial letters".

Noun

1. A style of orthography characterized by somewhat rounded capital letters; found especially in Greek and Latin manuscripts of the 4th to 8th centuries.

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "uncial" was first used: 1650. (references)


Specialty Definitions: Uncial

DomainDefinitions

Publishing & Graphic Arts

Consisting of a form of letter found in early. . . Greek manuscripts. The uncial characters are large and of nearly univorm size, resembling modern capitals but with greater roundness. Source: European Union. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Uncial

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries CE by Latin and Greek scribes. Early forms are characterized by broad single stroke letters using simple round forms taking advantage of the new parchment and vellum surfaces, as opposed to the angular, multiple stroke letters which are more suited for rougher surfaces, such as papyrus. In the oldest examples of uncial, all of the letters are disconnected from one another, and word breaks are typically not used.

As the script evolved over the centuries, the characters became more complex. Specifically, around 600 CE, flourishes and exaggerations of the basic strokes began to appear in more manuscripts. Ascenders and descenders were the first major alterations, followed by twists of the tool in the basic stroke and overlapping. By the time the more compact minuscule scripts awoke circa 800 CE, some of the evolved uncial styles formed the basis for these simplified, smaller scripts. Uncial was still used, particularly for copies of the Bible, tapering off until around the 10th century.

The word, uncial, is also sometimes used to refer to manuscripts that have been scribed in uncial, especially when differentiating from those which have been penned with minuscule. Some of the most noteworthy Greek uncials are:

The Petropolitanus is considered by some to contain optimum uncial style. It is also an example of how large the characters were getting.

Modern calligraphy usually teach a form of evolved Latin based uncial hand that would probably be best compared to the later, 7th to 10th century examples, though admittedly, the variations in Latin uncial are much wider and less rigid than Greek. Modern uncial has borrowed heavily from some of the conventions found in more cursive scripts, using flourishes, variable width strokes, and on occasion, even center axis tilt.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Uncial."

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Synonyms within Context: Uncial

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Letter

Adjective: literal; alphabetical, abecedarian; syllabic; majuscular, minuscular; uncial; (writing).

Writing

Uncial, Runic, cuneiform, hieroglyphical.

Letter; uncial writing, cuneiform character, arrowhead, Ogham, Runes, hieroglyphic; contraction; Brahmi, Devanagari, Nagari; script.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Crosswords: Uncial

English words defined with "uncial": minuscular, minuscule. (references)
Specialty definitions using "uncial": Alexandrian Codexuncial character, Uncial LettersVaticanus, Codex. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Uncial" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Portuguese (uncial), Romanian (uncial).

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Commercial Usage: Uncial

DomainTitle

Books

  • Bezae Codex Cantabrigiensis: Being an Exact Copy, in Ordinary Type, of the Celebrated Uncial Graeco-Latin Mra M. Robinson. Connolly. Do When Touri (reference)

    (more book examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Uncial

"Uncial" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 85.71% of the time. "Uncial" is used about 7 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Adjective (general or positive)85.71%6143,867
Noun (proper)14.29%1339,140
                    Total100.00%7N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Expression: Uncial

Expression using "uncial": uncial character. Additional references.

Hypenated Usage

Ending with "uncial": half-uncial.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Uncial

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

uncial

9

uncial font

6

font free uncial

3

calligraphy uncial

3

uncial writing

2

celtic uncial

2

american uncial

2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: Uncial

Language Translations for "uncial"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

unicial, dorëshkrim i shkruar me shrift unicial. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

унциален шрифт, унциален, ръкопис в унциален шрифт, буква от унциален шрифт. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

یک دوازدهمی , حروف الفبای قدیم یونان وروم , شبیه یک دوازدهم . (various references)

   

French

  

onciale (uncial character). (various references)

   

German

  

unzialschrift, unziale, unzialbuchstabe, unzial-, schriftstück in unzialschrift, dokument in unzialschrift. (various references)

   

Greek 

  

μεγάλα γράμματα αρχαίων χειρογράφων. (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

unciális írás, unciális. (various references)

   

Manx

  

unshagh. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ialuncay

   

Portuguese

  

uncial, letra uncial. (various references)

   

Romanian

  

uncial. (various references)

   

Russian 

  

унциальный. (various references)

   

Serbo-Croatian

  

uncijalan, veliko slovo (capital letter, majuscule, upper-case letter). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

yuvarlak majiskül harflerle yazılmış, yuvarlak majiskül harf. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: Uncial

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

uncialis. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Derivations & Misspellings: Uncial

Derivations

Words beginning with "uncial": uncially, uncials. (additional references)

Words ending with "uncial": internuncial, quincuncial. (additional references)


Misspellings

"Uncial" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Dunciad, duncical, incal, incial, juncal, Junipall, Munkedal, ncia, nubial, nucile, Nucula, Pundijl, Ucal, Uccialli, uncal, uncel, uncia, unic, Unica, unical, Unilab, unimal, unkeel, Yunxia. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

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Anagrams: Uncial

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-c-i-l-n-u"

-1 letter: aulic, linac, uncia.

-2 letters: anil, cain, caul, clan, laic, lain, luna, nail, ulan, ulna, unai, unci.

-3 letters: ail, ain, ani, can, lac, lin, nil.

-4 letters: ai, al, an, in, la, li, na, nu, un.

 Words containing the letters "a-c-i-l-n-u"
 

+1 letter: cauline, cingula, incudal, inocula, lunatic, uncials, uncinal, vincula.

 

+2 letters: acauline, aluminic, anticult, baculine, calquing, caulking, cislunar, culinary, dulciana, dulcinea, duncical, fanciful, lunacies, lunatics, maculing, nautical, nudicaul, publican, sultanic, uncially, univocal, unlacing, unsocial, uranylic, vulcanic.

 

+3 letters: acidulent, antiulcer, binocular, cacuminal, callusing, calumnies, canicular, capsuling, caulkings, cingulate, clinquant, connubial, continual, culminant, culminate, cupolaing, dulcianas, dulcineas, euclidean, euclidian, funicular, inculcate, inculpate, incunable, incurable, incurably, inoculant, inoculate, involucra, jubilance, lacunaria, launching, lubricant, luminance, masculine, municipal, navicular, neuralgic, numerical, publicans, ranunculi, raunchily, suctional, uncannily, unclaimed, unclarity, uncynical, unethical, univocals, unlyrical, unmusical, untypical, upscaling, vulcanian, vulcanise, vulcanism, vulcanize.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.

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Alternative Orthography: Uncial


Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)

55 6E 63 69 61 6C

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)

American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)

=

Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)

Braille (1829, in France) (references)

Morse Code (1836) (references)

..-    -.    -.-.    ..    .-    .-..

Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)

Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)

01010101 01101110 01100011 01101001 01100001 01101100

HTML Code (1990) (references)

&#85 &#110 &#99 &#105 &#97 &#108

ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)

0055 006E 0063 0069 0061 006C

British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)

Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)

558069756778

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Non-English Dictionaries with "Uncial"

LanguageCoverageLanguage Translations

Albanian

fjalor, qartësi, përcaktim, saktësi, transmetim, transferimshqip, албанец, албански език, албански, Albanais, albaner, αλβανικόσ, Αλβανός, αλβανόσ, albán, Albaneagh, albanês, arnãut, albanez, arnãuţesc, албанский, albanski, albanac, Arnavut

Bulgarian

речник, яснота, сила, очертания, дефиниция, транслация, превеждане, предаване, поддаване, тълкуване, огъване, преводbulgr, български, български език, българин, bulgare, 'ούλγαρος, bolgár, Bulgeyragh, Bulgeyrish, болгарский, болгарин, bugarski jezik, bugarski, bugarka, bugarin, bulgaristan ile ilgili

French

dictionnaire, définition, traductionfrëngjishte, frëng, franceze, френски език, френски, français, französisch, γαλλικόσ, γαλλική γλώσσα, γαλλίδα, γάλλοσ, francia, Ny Frangee, Mooinjey ny Frank, francês, francezii, franţuzesc, francezã, francez, franţuzeşte, французский, francuski jezik, francuski, francuzi, fransızca, fransız, Fransiz, fransızca ile ilgili, fransa ile ilgili

German

Übersetzung, Wörterbuch, Definitiongjerman, германски, немски език, немски, немец, роден, готически, германец, allemand, "ερμανός, német, Germaanish, Germaanagh, Garmane, Carmane, alemão, neamţ, немецкий, germanski, alman

Greek

λεξικό, ορισμός, μετάφρασηгръцки език, гръцки, грък, grec, grieche, ελληνικόσ, 'Ελληνας, görög, Greagish, Greagagh, grego, greacã, греческий, грек, grčki, grk, grčki jezik, yunanistan'a ait, yunanca, yunan, Yunanli, yunanlı, Rumca, rum

Hungarian

szótár, meghatározás, definíció, fordításунгарски език, унгарски, унгарец, hongrois, Ungar, Ούγγρος, magyar, Ungaarish, Ungaaragh, unguresc, limba ungarã, limba maghiarã, ungureşte, ungur, maghiar, венгр, венгерский, mađarski jezik, mađarski, mađar, macarca, macar

Manx

fockleyr, geyrid, meenaghey, keeayllaght, baghtgjuha e popullsisë së ishullit men, manx, mann-szigeti nyelv, Manninish, Manninagh, Gaelgagh, Yn Ghaelg, язык жителей о-ва мэн, с о-ва мэн, s ostrva mana, man adası, man dili

Portuguese

dicionário, definição, traduçãoportugez, portugalisht, португалски, португалски език, португалец, portugais, portugiesisch, πορτογάλοσ, ορτογάλος, portugál, Portiugish, Portiugagh, português, portughez, португальский, portugalski jezik, portugalac, portugalski, portekizce, portekiz, Portekízlí, portekizli

Romanian

dicţionar, definiţie, determinare, definire, translaţie, traducere, tãlmãcirerumun, румънски език, румънски, румънец, Roumain, rumäne, ρουμανόσ, Ρουμάνος, román, Roomainagh, romeno, român, румынский, румын, rumunski jezik, rumunski

Russian

словарь, определение, трансляция, сдвиг, перевод, перемещениеруски език, руски, руснак, Russe, russisch, Ρώσος, orosz, Rooshish, Rooshagh, русский, ruski jezik, ruski, Rusça

Serbo-Croatian

leksikon, rečnik, definicija, tumačenjeserbokroatisch, servo-croata, sârbo-croat, srpsko-hrvatski jezik, srpsko-hrvatski

Turkish

sözlük, ansiklopedik sözlük, açıklama, belirleme, belirtme, kesinleştirme, tanım, tarif, seçiklik, tanımlama, tercümeturk, турски език, турски, turque, türkisch, τούρκικοσ, török, Yn Turkish, Turkagh, turcesc, turc, турецкий, turski jezik, turski, türkçe, türk

English

Dictionary, Definition, Translationanglezët, anglez, gjuhë zngleze, anglishte, anglisht, английски език, английски, англичаните, anglais, englisch, εγγλέζοσ, αγγλικόσ, angol, Sostynagh, Sostnagh, Baarlagh, inglês, englezesc, английский, engleski, englez, engleski jezik, ingiltere, ingiliz, Íngílízce, ingilizce, Íngílíz, ýngilizce
 


INDEX

1. Definition
2. Crosswords
3. Usage: Commercial
4. Usage Frequency
5. Expressions
6. Expressions: Internet
7. Translations: Modern
8. Translations: Ancient
9. Derivations
10. Anagrams
11. Orthography
12. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.