Miniscule vs. minuscule

In response to our blog yesterday about Andy Borowitz's alleged misspelling of "minuscule" in The Borowitz Report, Mr. Borowitz wrote:

"No offense, but someone should blog you! 'Miniscule' may not be the favored spelling, but it is accepted - check the dictionary.
—Best, Andy"

Well, we did check the dictionary (before we wrote the blog entry) and here's what it said:

"Miniscule: variant of MINUSCULE
Usage: The adjective minuscule is etymologically related to minus, but associations with mini- have produced the spelling variant miniscule. This variant dates to the end of the 19th century, and it now occurs commonly in published writing, but it continues to be widely regarded as an error."

So Mr. Borowitz, go ahead and use the variant if you want, but we'll stick with minuscule until the dictionary calls IT a variant and says it's widely regarded as an error.