uppercase

[ uhp-er-keys ]

adjective

1. (of an alphabetic character) capital:

   Uppercase letters such as Q and U can be harder to read than lowercase letters q and u.

2. Printing. pertaining to or belonging in the upper case, such as A, N, or W. Compare case ²( def 8 ).

verb (used with object)

, up·per·cased, up·per·cas·ing.

1. to print or write with an uppercase letter, such as M, L, or V.

noun

1. a capital letter, such as T, X, or P.

Word History and Origins

Origin of uppercase¹

First recorded in 1730–40; upper ¹ + case ² (in the sense “a tray divided into compartments for holding types for a compositor to use”)

Example Sentences

In one test, for instance, students are given one minute to name as many uppercase and lowercase letters listed on a page as they can.

From Los Angeles Times

Unified, student Maria Arriaga will be timed to see how many uppercase and lowercase letters she can name in a minute.

From Los Angeles Times

“Have a Seat: Mexican Chair Design Today,” it reads in uppercase letters rendered in an eye-popping, pink font.

From New York Times

He confessed: “For the exercise on the L.A. Times website, I had no idea how to write the uppercase ‘G’ or the uppercase ‘Z’ in cursive; I was really just guessing.

From Los Angeles Times

National Institute of Standards and Technology that recommend passwords with as large a mix of special characters, uppercase letters and lowercase letters as possible.

From Scientific American

More About Uppercase

What does uppercase mean?

Uppercase means the same thing as capital in capital letter—the bigger, taller version of a letter (like W), as opposed to the smaller version, which is called a lowercase letter (like w).

Uppercase letters can also be called capitals.

Some uppercase letters are just larger, taller versions of their lowercase counterparts (like uppercase W and lowercase w or uppercase C and lowercase c), but in many cases the two versions of the letter take different forms altogether, such as uppercase A and lowercase a or uppercase B and lowercase b.

Uppercase can also be used as a verb meaning the same thing as capitalize—to make a letter a capital or uppercase letter. For example, to uppercase the word polish (which is here spelled with a lowercase p), you would write it with an uppercase P, as Polish.

The state of being capitalized or uppercase (or the process of making a letter uppercase) is called capitalization, as in Please check your paper for proper punctuation and capitalization.

In English, uppercase letters are used at the beginning of words for a few different reasons. It is considered a standard rule of English to use an uppercase letter to start proper nouns (which are nouns that refer to specific people, places, or things—meaning one’s that have specific names), such as Jess, Mexico, and Nintendo. Using an uppercase letter at the start of a word can change the way the reader interprets its meaning, as in the case of polish (a verb meaning to make something shinier) and Polish (an adjective describing someone from Poland) or apple (the fruit) and Apple (the company).

We also use an uppercase letter for the first letter of the first word in a sentence. Sometimes, we use an uppercase letter for the first letter of each word in a title, as in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. This is sometimes called title case.

Some acronyms and abbreviations are written using all uppercase letters, such as NASA and U.S. A word written entirely in uppercase letters (like WHAT) is said to be written in caps or all caps.

Example: A lot of people don’t bother using uppercase letters in text messages unless they want to emphasize something.

Where does uppercase come from?

The first records of the word uppercase come from the 1730s. The words uppercase and lowercase come from printing. The process of physically printing things with printing presses involved trays, called cases, that were divided into compartments for holding different kinds of type (blocks with letters on them). The upper case held capital letters and the lower case held what came to be known as lowercase letters.

It can be confusing to know whether or not to use an uppercase letter in certain situations, but a capitalization guide can help.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to uppercase?

• upper-case (alternate hyphenated spelling)
• upper case (alternate two-word spelling)

What are some synonyms for uppercase?

• capital (when uppercase is used as an adjective)
• capital letter (when uppercase is used as a noun)
• capitalize (when uppercase is used as a verb)

What are some words that share a root or word element with uppercase? 

• lowercase

What are some words that often get used in discussing uppercase?

• letter
• capitalization
• spelling
• first
• word
• sentence
• title

How is uppercase used in real life?

Uppercase letters are used in the beginning of names and other proper nouns, at the beginning of sentences, at the beginning of words in titles, and in some abbreviations. In casual use, a word might be written in uppercase for emphasis.

upset cause i cant capitalize numbers. i feel like there shld be lowercase and uppercase numbers.

— vi ♡’s maria & pg (@CANY0NVIA) February 11, 2021

Identifying and matching uppercase and lowercase letters using these colorful underwater themed cards. Games make learning fun! 🐟 🐠 #IslipENL #LearningIsFun @WingElemIslip pic.twitter.com/QjUSLvuZ57

— Jaclyn Brady (@JaclynBrady17) February 5, 2021

Please understand that when I type in uppercase i’m probably:
-Yelling
-Excited
-Surprised
-Frustrated
-Angry
-Wanna highlight a certain word
-Or just to lazy to change it back
Thank you. Good day.

— nesma the owner of truce (@cutmytrucee) September 18, 2020

Try using uppercase!

Which of the following kinds of words is often spelled with an uppercase letter at the beginning?

A. proper nouns
B. the first word in a sentence
C. the first word in a title
D. all of the above