a. and sb. [ad. L. unciāl-is pertaining to a twelfth part, f. uncia UNCIA. In sense 2 after L. unciales litteræ (Jerome). Hence also It. onciale, Sp. uncial, Pg. oncial, F. oncial (uncial), G., Sw. uncial.]
A. adj. 1. a. Pertaining to connected with, etc., an inch or an ounce.
1650. J. Wybard, Tactometria, 305. The solid measure of one ounce-troy will be (in unciall or inch-measure) 1·8947 inch; and of one ounce-avoirdupois, 1·72556 inch.
1656. Blount, Glossogr. [copying Cooper], Uncial, of or belonging to an ounce or inch.
1824. Scott, Redgauntlet, Concl. I am sorry I have not room (the frank being only uncial) for his farther observations.
b. Based on a duodecimal division; divided into twelve equal parts.
1842. Smith’s Dict. Grk. & Rom. Antiq., s.v. Uncia, The uncial system was adopted by the Greeks of Sicily.
1853. Humphreys, Coin-coll. Man., II. 375, note. It seems probable that both the name of the weight, and the uncial coinage, may have been derived from Sicily.
1884. Encycl. Brit., XVII. 652/2. The denarius was struck at 80 to the pound, and the as became uncial.
2. Of letters or writing: Having the large rounded forms (not joined to each other) characteristic of early Greek and Latin manuscripts; also (in looser use), of large size, capital.
The term is also applied to letters having the form of the uncial, irrespective of size. When used in its strict sense, uncial is distinguished from capital, which denotes the more original, unrounded forms of the letters.
Jerome’s unciales litteræ (Prol. Job) is commonly explained as meaning ‘letters of an inch long’: his use of the word is accompanied by the phrase ut vulgo aiunt, and the literal sense was perhaps not seriously intended. The emendations initiales ‘initial’ and uncinales ‘hooked, bent,’ have been suggested.
1712. Henley, trans. Montfaucon’s Trav. Italy, ii. 19. The Book is writ in the Oblong uncial Character.
a. 1734. North, Lives (1826), I. 20. It is not well to write, as the fashion now is, uncial or semiuncial letters.
1784. Astle, Orig. & Progr. Writ., 82. Uncial writing began to be adopted about the middle of the fifth century.
1844. S. R. Maitland, Dark Ages, 207. A copy of the Gospels,… written in uncial characters.
1869. J. J. Raven, Ch. Bells Cambr. (1881), 12. Bells inscribed in the uncial mediæval lettering, commonly called Longobardic.
1881. T. Walrond, in Macm. Mag., XLIV. 151. All those that have been mentioned are written in the great uncial or capital character.
Comb. 1885. Encycl. Brit., XVIII. 150/2. The minuscule character is maintained intact, without intrusion of larger or uncial-formed letters.
b. Written, cut, etc., in uncial characters.
1849. Curzon, Monast. Levant, xi. 134. The one [inscription] on the other side was either Coptic or uncial Greek.
1863. Smith’s Dict. Bible, III. 1201, note. An uncial MS., brought by Tischendorf from St. Catherine’s Monastery.
1885. H. Sweet, Oldest Eng. Texts, 422. The latest uncial charter … is dated 736, and … it is Mercian.
c. Characterized by the use of large letters.
1876. Geo. Eliot, Dan. Der., II. xiv. The address was in a lady’s handwriting (of the delicate kind which used to be esteemed feminine before the present uncial period).
B. sb. 1. An uncial or capital letter.
1775. Ash, Uncial..., a letter of a larger size formerly used in inscriptions.
1784. Astle, Orig. & Progr. Writ., 66. All writing may be divided into capitals, uncials, and small letters.
1860. I. Taylor, Ess., iii. 203. His [Franklin’s] name, until his later years, drew after it no cumbrous length of academic Uncials.
1875. Scrivener, Lect. Text N. Test., 19. These uncials attract the eye for their minuteness.
b. An uncial style of writing.
So F. onciale fem., oncial masc.
1883. I. Taylor, Alphabet, viii. § 6 II. 204. In the 7th century the Irish uncial … came into competition with the Roman uncial.
1885. Encycl. Brit., XVIII. 148/1. In this class of writing there is again the same dearth of dated MSS. as in the round uncial.
2. A manuscript written in uncial characters.
1881. Westcott & Hort, Grk. N. Test., Introd. § 98. The Greek MSS. of the New Testament are divided into two classes,—Uncials and Cursives.
1883. Schaff, Hist. Chr. Church, Apost. Chr., lxxxi. II. 642, note. It is omitted in several uncials and ancient versions.
