Uncial Letters
characters of a large, round form, used in some ancient MSS. The earliest form of an alphabet is its capitals, and the oldest Greek and Latin MSS. are written entirely in capitals. Uncial letters, which began to take the place of capital letters in the middle of the 5th century, differ from them in being composed of rounded and not straight lines, and exhibiting a tendency toward greater expedition in style. Uncial writing arose as writing on papyrus or vellum became common, the necessity for more rapid execution leading to the practice of curving the lines. It pre vailed from the 6th to the 8th, or even to the 10th century.