Spell as you speak? Miniscule vs. minuscule

Probably because most of us pronounce this word’s second syllable with a short i instead of an u, it’s been giving writers spelling problems for some time now. 

Most stylebooks, including Chicago Manual and Associated Press, recommend using minuscule, and for a long time that has been the standard spelling. However, due to growing use of miniscule between the 1930s and 1980s, many dictionaries and word processing spell checks now recognize either spelling.

This word apparently is one of those in transition, and perhaps one day minuscule as a spelling will go the way of alack and other now archaic words. Until that time, however, stick with the standard spelling.

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