Definition

1. Noun:
   • A lowercase letter in the form of a capital letter: A typographical character that has the shape of a capital (uppercase) letter but is the same height as a lowercase letter (e.g., x). It is often used for abbreviations or stylistic purposes in text.
   • A company with a small market value: A publicly traded corporation whose total market capitalization (share price multiplied by number of shares) is relatively small, typically between $300 million and $2 billion. These are often younger, growth-oriented companies.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Typography):

  • The designer used small caps for the acronym to make it less visually jarring.
  • In this font, the small cap 'A' is perfectly aligned with the lowercase 'x'.

• Noun (Finance):

  • Many investors are looking for the next big success story among small caps.
  • This fund specializes in high-growth small cap stocks from the technology sector.

Advanced Usage

• "Small-cap stock" or "small-cap company": These are common compound terms specifying the financial meaning.
  • The volatility of small-cap stocks can be higher than that of large, established companies.

Variants and Related Words

• Small-capitalization (adj): Describing the market value category.
  • It is a small-capitalization index fund.
• Mid-cap (n): A company with a medium-sized market capitalization.
• Large-cap (n): A company with a large market capitalization.
• Lowercase (n): The set of small letters (a, b, c), as opposed to uppercase or capitals (A, B, C).

Synonyms

• (Finance): Micro-cap (even smaller), growth stock, emerging company.
• (Typography): None are perfect synonyms, but related terms are or .

Related Phrases

• Small-cap index: A stock market index that tracks the performance of small-capitalization companies.
  • The Russell 2000 is a well-known small-cap index.
• Small-cap fund: An investment fund that primarily holds shares of small-cap companies.
  • She invested in a small-cap fund for potential long-term growth.

Noun

1. a character having the form of an upper-case letter but the same height as lower-case letters
2. a corporation with a small capitalization
   • this annual conference is a showcase for ambitious small caps