What is a uppercase
Upper-case letters Definition & Meaning
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Capital letters. (Compare lower-case letters.)
QUIZ
ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ
There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!
Question 1 of 7
True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.
Words nearby upper-case letters
upper bound, Upper Canada, Upper Canadian, Upper Carboniferous, uppercase, upper-case letters, upper chamber, Upper Chinook, upper class, upperclassman, upper crust
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
MORE ABOUT UPPER CASE LETTERS
What are
uppercase letters?Uppercase letters are capital letters—the bigger, taller versions of letters (like W), as opposed to the smaller versions, which are called lowercase letters (like w).
Uppercase means the same thing as capital. 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.
To capitalize a word is to make its first letter an uppercase letter.
For example, to capitalize 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 an uppercase letter) 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 letter come from?The term uppercase letter has been used since at least 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 letter?
- upper-case letter (alternate hyphenated spelling)
- upper case letter (alternate two-word spelling)
What are some synonyms for uppercase letter?
- capital letter
- capital
- uppercase (when uppercase is used as a noun)
What are some words that share a root or word element with uppercase letter?
- uppercase
- lowercase
- lowercase letter
- letter
What are some words that often get used in discussing uppercase letter?
- capitalize
- capitalization
- spelling
- first
- word
- sentence
- title
How are
uppercase letters 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 letters for emphasis.
She’s back with the classics and the riddles and the puzzles. The uppercase letters say APRIL NINTH. 👏🏻 @taylorswift13 You deserve this, so much. 💛 https://t.co/x7KsswdBPj
— anne⁰⁰ ఌ😺 (@ANNEtisocial) 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
i wonder if i’ll ever use uppercase letters for anything besides emphasis again
— h☼ (@hl_cutie) July 8, 2019
Try using
uppercase letters!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
How to use upper-case letters in a sentence
Certain features of its history suggest why this may be the case.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
And, in the case of fluoride, at least, that doubt might actually be justified.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
Her latest book, Heretic: The Case for a Muslim Reformation, will be published in April by HarperCollins.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Their friendship began when Krauss, who was chairman of the physics department at Case Western in Cleveland, sought out Epstein.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A grand juror in the Ferguson case is suing to be able to explain exactly what went down in the courtroom.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“Perhaps you do not speak my language,” she said in Urdu, the tongue most frequently heard in Upper India.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
The case was an assault and battery that came off between two men named Brown and Henderson.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
In this case, I suspect, there was co-operant a strongly marked childish characteristic, the love of producing an effect.
Children's Ways|James Sully
On the upper part of the stem the whorls are very close together, but they are more widely separated at the lower portion.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Sometimes in the case of large plants, cones have been known to occur on the tips of the branches of the Marsh Horsetail.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Uppercase Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
1 of 4
up·per·case ˌə-pər-ˈkās
: capital sense 1
uppercase
2 of 4
: capital letters
uppercase
3 of 4
transitive verb
: to print or set in capital letters
upper case
4 of 4
: a type case containing capitals and usually small capitals, fractions, symbols, and accents
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
It's also supposed to be lowercase, not uppercase, according to the Associated Press stylebook.
—Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2023 It's also supposed to be lowercase, not uppercase, according to the Associated Press stylebook. —Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2023 It's also supposed to be lowercase, not uppercase, according to the Associated Press stylebook. —Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2023 It's also supposed to be lowercase, not uppercase, according to the Associated Press stylebook. —Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 7 Mar. 2022 And the company’s all-uppercase, 1990s-esque logo will give way to one including lower-case letters and a more modern-looking font, said Ms. Leyden Li. —Alexandra Bruell, WSJ, 19 July 2021 As part of the design, an uppercase block-A Alabama logo sits on the neck of the bottle with an elephant breaking through the void or counter in the letter.
—Michael Casagrande | [email protected], al, 19 May 2021 Fortunately this typeface is only uppercase, so that simplifies a lot of things. —Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Apr. 2021 The Globe explained that the word has evolved from a description of a person's skin color to signify a race and culture, and deserves the uppercase treatment, much like Latinos get. —David Bauder, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 June 2020
The image looks as if Sanchez is shouting over loud club music to tell her then-boyfriend something, which is why people who used the meme format typed in all uppercase letters.
—Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 23 Dec. 2022 There’s generally a simple formula for this one: two uppercase letters, followed by a four-digit number. —Allison Hope, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Mar. 2022 Instead, use a long password with a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters as well as numbers and special characters, and always use unique passwords for each account. —Al Ramich, Forbes, 1 July 2022 Experts at Boston University remind us that using a combination of alphabetical and numeric characters—with uppercase and lowercase mixed in with symbols—helps craft the complexity. —Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 17 May 2022 Dave looked at the cover and recognized his father’s neat handwriting in all uppercase. —Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2022 The Perfect Polish set also comes with six sheets of uppercase and lowercase lettered nail stickers in the same serif font as the brand's logo. —Nicola Dall'asen, Allure, 19 Nov. 2021 The clothing company Gap about a decade ago redesigned its logo only to revert back to its classic blue box and uppercase letters in less than a week. —Joshua Bowling, The Arizona Republic, 7 Nov. 2021 Like, the uppercase T had a spike serif on the bottom and slab serifs on the top. —Diana Budds, Curbed, 13 Oct. 2021
Make sure your employees’ passwords follow best security practices, such as containing 10 characters or more, uppercase and lowercase letters and at least one number and special character. —Akram Atallah, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2022
The script does have a string to upper case function, but that’s only for the output. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 Mar. 2011 This post is typed as a shouting tantrum (all upper case) and claims to be written by a man who called corporate headquarters in Charlotte where he was informed of this. —Bill Hand, USA TODAY, 10 June 2020 See More
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'uppercase. ' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective
from the compositor's practice of keeping capital letters in the upper of a pair of type cases
First Known Use
Adjective
1738, in the meaning defined above
Noun (1)
circa 1916, in the meaning defined above
Verb
1949, in the meaning defined above
Noun (2)
1683, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of uppercase was in 1683
See more words from the same year
Dictionary Entries Near
uppercaseUpper Canada
uppercase
upper case
See More Nearby Entries
Cite this Entry
Style
MLAChicagoAPAMerriam-Webster
“Uppercase. ” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uppercase. Accessed 11 Mar. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
uppercase
adjective
up·per·case
ˌəp-ər-ˈkās
: capital entry 1 sense 2
uppercase noun
More from Merriam-Webster on
uppercaseNglish: Translation of uppercase for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of uppercase for Arabic Speakers
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
What is the uppercase character on the keyboard
The first thing that falls into the hands of a computer user is a keyboard and a mouse. The ability to use various functions with the help of these attributes allows you to quickly solve tasks. If you ask a beginner what upper case is, he will probably point to the keys located at the top. In fact, this is far from being the case.
Contents of the article
- Understanding upper and lower case on the keyboard
- Where is the upper case
- Ways to switch case on the keyboard
What is the upper and lower case on the keyboard
These concepts have come down to us since the days of typewriters. When typing, the usual type of writing was performed in the standard position of the equipment, which was called the lower one, and capital letters were applied to the paper when the position of the printing rods was changed, by moving them to the upper position. It is this function that the keyboards of modern mobile and stationary printing devices are endowed with.
By means of the “Shift” functional transfer button from one mode to another, the PC user can switch to uppercase or uppercase letters when writing texts, depending on the content requirements. At the same time, the numbers indicate punctuation marks or other symbols that are used when printing documents. In other words, uppercase is a printing mode in which letters become uppercase and numbers change to symbols. The lower one is the usual image of numbers and letters.
Where is the uppercase
Two keys for switching from one print mode to another are located on the keyboard: one on the lower left, and the other on the right - also at the bottom. This is done for the convenience of fast typing. If the letter to be capitalized is on the right, then the left side is used. When switching, press simultaneously, first "Shift" and then the desired character. And when the desired character is located on the left - vice versa. If it is convenient for the user to press both keys with one hand, then he does just that, for example, to display a comma!
ATTENTION! The keyboard of some mobile devices may have only one "Shift" key.
This is due to the compact size of office equipment.
The ease of use of the upper mode allows you to quickly switch the function of the desired symbol from one position to another. In addition, on the left, above the "Shift" button, there is a key labeled "Caps Lock", which has the same functionality, but a different principle of operation.
Keyboard shifting methods
When typing texts, two switching modes are used:
- short-term;
- long.
The first of the listed methods switches the keyboard only at the moment of pressing the "Shift" key. As soon as the user releases it, printing continues in the normal mode - in capital letters.
The second method allows, after pressing the "Caps Lock" button, to change to uppercase and type capital letters until there is no need to use them. A separate keyboard indicator lights up when this mode is enabled and goes out only when the specified key is pressed again, which confirms the transition to uppercase symbols.
IMPORTANT! When "Caps Lock" is on, using the "Shift" button will have the opposite effect: when pressed, normal characters, and when released, capital letters.
Long mode is used when writing headings or emphasizing article titles.
The ability to quickly change from one case to another allows PC users to easily type the required texts by quickly inserting the necessary characters and capital letters.
What is upper and lower case on the keyboard?
Posted on by Avtomatika ConcernCategories:Equipment
When novice users first get acquainted with the keyboard, the question often arises: “What are the upper and lower case on the keyboard?”. It turns out that everything is very simple. Uppercase letters means that uppercase letters and, accordingly, lowercase and lowercase letters are currently being entered from the keyboard. That is, each sentence begins with a capital letter. We use capital letters for this. The rest of the sentence is written in "lowercase" letters, i.e., a lowercase letter is used. This is the answer to the question of what uppercase and lowercase letters are used on the keyboard. There are various ways to switch between input modes, which we will discuss later.
Momentary switching
Now we know what uppercase and lowercase letters are on the keyboard. Let's look at the main ways to switch between uppercase and lowercase letters. Passes temporary and permanent. Another method is implemented programmatically in office software. This will also be considered within the framework of this material. Let's start with a short term perspective. Every computer keyboard has a "Shift" key (some of them may have an up arrow instead of an inscription). If capital letters are entered at a certain time, pressing this key in combination with any text character will display it in lower case and vice versa. This method is convenient to use at the beginning of a sentence. That is, they entered an uppercase character, so everything is typed in lowercase.
Long dialing
You can change the uppercase and lowercase letters of the keyboard in another way. For these purposes, there is a special key "Caps Lock". It is usually found on the far left row of the keyboard between the Tab and Shift keys. When pressed, the register changes constantly. To determine the current mode, look at the LED on the keyboard with exactly the same inscription: "Caps Lock". If it is lit, it means that uppercase letters are entered, otherwise lowercase. To switch between modes, press this button again. This method is best used when you need to constantly enter text in the same format (for example, only uppercase characters) and switching between input formats, if this happens, does not happen as often.
For office applications
Another way to change uppercase and lowercase characters is implemented in the Microsoft office suite. Most often used in the text editor "Word".
