Some words used to describe the appearance or style of writing have interesting etymologies.
The term “cursive,” comes from the Latin root curr/curs, meaning to run or flow. Technically, the term refers to anyone style of handwriting that “flows,” i.e., provides for joins between the letters that allow the writer to form his letters rapidly. The word is related to such disparate words as: current, cursory, incur, occur, precursor, succor, course, corridor, corsair, and discourse.
The word “capital,” as in the phrase, “capital letter,” comes from the Latin root “capit,” meaning “head.” In Roman times the term was applied to the style of writing that was used when carving inscriptions into the capitals (tops or “heads”) of columns. We now use the term to refer to a specific set of large letters used at the beginnings of sentences and of proper nouns, but the Romans did not make the same sort of distinction. Capital letters for them consisted of the formal style of lettering used when carving in stone, as opposed to a freer, more informal style used when writing with a reed pen or on a wax tablet. These two different styles were also refered to as “majuscules” and “miniscules.” The modern combination of the two didn’t occur until the Renaissance and the development of an exceptionally beautiful cursive that the Italians referred to as “cancellaresca,” but we now refer to as “italic,” in honor of the country in which the form was developed. You can see an example of this script in a letter of the humanist, Erasmus of Rotterdam, displayed at: http://www.unigre.it/pubblicazioni/lasala/WEB/T_APP3_E.HTM.
There is a dizzying array of words from the root “capit,” including: achieve, chattel, cattle, chaplain, chapel, a capella, cape, chaperone, and escape. More about the relationship among these words in a later post.
The terms “upper case” and “lower case,” as synomyms of majuscule and miniscule did not occur until after the development of Gutenburg’s printing press. The terms refer to the location of each style in the printer’s box of metal type.
The term “font” also owes its origins to the printing press. This word comes from the Latin “fundere,” meaning to pour forth. The term refers to the casting involved in creating metal type.
