# \small

Used to make subsequent math slightly smaller within a local scope, such as a compact subexpression or note.

https://texform.dev/latex/commands/small

## Metadata

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Topic | [Fonts and styles](https://texform.dev/latex/topics/fonts-styles) |
| Packages | base, textmacros |
| Allowed mode | math, text |
| Tags | presentation |
| Commonality | high |
| Kind | declarative |

## Syntax

### base

Argument specification: ``

Used to make subsequent math slightly smaller within a local scope, such as a compact subexpression or note.

### textmacros

Argument specification: ``

Switches subsequent text-mode content to a slightly smaller size, often for captions, notes, or compact text fragments inside a local group.

## Examples

```latex
{\small x + y}
```

[Open in Playground](https://play.texform.dev/?input=%7B%5Csmall+x+%2B+y%7D)

```latex
a + \small b + c
```

[Open in Playground](https://play.texform.dev/?input=a+%2B+%5Csmall+b+%2B+c)

```latex
\text{\small x}
```

[Open in Playground](https://play.texform.dev/?input=%5Ctext%7B%5Csmall+x%7D)

## Package variants

| Package | Argument specification | Allowed mode | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| base |  | math | Used to make subsequent math slightly smaller within a local scope, such as a compact subexpression or note. |
| textmacros |  | text | Switches subsequent text-mode content to a slightly smaller size, often for captions, notes, or compact text fragments inside a local group. |

## Renderer support

| Package | MathJax | KaTeX | XeTeX |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| base | full | full | full |
| textmacros | full | full | full |

## Usage frequency

0.11% of formulas in the measured corpus contain this entry, rank 106 of 263 entries with frequency data.

## In TeXForm

TeXForm parses this entry as declarative syntax; the package determines its argument specification.

## See also

- [\\huge](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/huge)
- [\\Huge](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/Huge)
- [\\large](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/large)
- [\\Large](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/Large)
- [\\LARGE](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/LARGE)
- [\\normalsize](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/normalsize)
- [\\scriptsize](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/scriptsize)
- [\\tiny](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/tiny)
- [\\Tiny](https://texform.dev/latex/commands/Tiny)

## Test cases

### base

| Input | Case | MathJax | KaTeX | XeTeX |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| {\small a} | Positive: baseline | Pass | Pass | Pass |

### textmacros

| Input | Case | MathJax | KaTeX | XeTeX |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| {\small a} | Positive: baseline | Pass | Pass | Pass |