what is the big letter at the beginning of a paragraph called
Initial In a written or published work, an initial or drop cap is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is derived from the Latin initialis, which means standing at the beginning. An initial is often several lines in height and in older books or manuscripts, sometimes ornately decorated.
Alliteration Alliteration is a figure of speech and a stylistic literary device which is identified by the repeated sound of the first or second letter in a series of words, or the repetition of the same letter sounds in stressed syllables of a phrase.[1][better source needed] "Alliteration" is from the Latin word littera, meaning "letter of the alphabet"; it was first coined in a Latin dialogue by the Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano in the 15th century.[2]