square capitals

9.2

A Roman style of writing using upright block capital letters often carved on stone

noun

Specialized

: capitales cuadradas

The museum displayed inscriptions written in square capitals from the first century AD.

Examples

Stone monuments in Rome frequently feature text carved in square capitals for clarity and durability.
Latin scholars often study square capitals to better understand the development of modern alphabets.
The manuscript was beautifully written in square capitals.
Can you identify the square capitals in this text?
Latin scholars often study square capitals to better understand the development of modern alphabets.
Stone monuments in Rome frequently feature text carved in square capitals for clarity and durability.
The museum displayed inscriptions written in square capitals from the first century AD.

Synonyms

block capital

vssquare capitals

3.4

An uppercase letter written clearly and not joined to other letters often used on forms

originates from carved Roman letterforms used in ancient inscriptions

Surface Forms

square capitals singular

square capitals plural

Morphology

square + capital

The meaning — a style of uppercase letters that are block-like or square in shape — is directly derivable from combining 'square' (shape) with 'capitals' (uppercase letters). This follows a standard adjective + noun composition and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a kind of capital-letter style.

Etymology

Square capitals comes from old Roman stone writing where carvers cut upright, block-like letters into rock. The letters looked like small squares, so square, and were the large, formal letters, so capitals, and that style became the model for our 'modern capital letters'.