Word.ws English Dictionary

uncial

Syllables: un·ci·al/ˈʌn.si.əl/

uncial adjective: of or relating to an ounce, or an inch, especially to letters printed an inch high.

Adjective (1)

uncial (comparative more uncial, superlative most uncial)

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

Adjective (2)

uncial (not comparable)

  1. Of or relating to a majuscule style of writing with unjoined, rounded letters, originally used in the 4th–9th centuries.
    • This, also written in black letter, we found inscribed on a second parchment that was in the coffer, apparently somewhat older in date than that on which was inscribed the mediæval Latin translation of the uncial Greek of which I shall speak presently.1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

Noun

uncial (plural uncials)

  1. A style of writing using uncial letters.
  2. A letter in this style.
  3. A manuscript in this style.

uncial meaning in Tamil

uncial in Tamil

தொடர்பிலா எழுத்துக்கள்

Forms of uncial

Adjective
comparativemore uncial
superlativemost uncial
Noun
pluraluncials

Origin of uncial

Attested 1650, from Latin ū̆ncia (“a twelfth part, ounce, inch”) + -al.

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.

Words formed from uncial

Questions about uncial

What does uncial mean?
Uncial means of or relating to an ounce, or an inch, especially to letters printed an inch high.
What is uncial in Tamil?
Uncial in Tamil is தொடர்பிலா எழுத்துக்கள். See Uncial meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is uncial?
Uncial can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce uncial?
Uncial is pronounced /ˈʌn.si.əl/.

Words near uncial in the dictionary

  1. unchurning
  2. unchurns
  3. unci
  4. uncia
  5. unciae
  6. uncial
  7. uncialize
  8. uncialized
  9. uncializes
  10. uncializing
  11. uncially

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: uncial (page history and authors); uncial (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-uncial.wav.

Cite this entry: “uncial.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/uncial. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.