Typeface components (serifs, stems, bowls, etc) are designed with varying weight and stress. Characters include numerals (old-style and modern), small capitals, reference marks, ligatures, diphthongs, accented letters etc.

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PRINTING EXPLAINED
Our Glossary of Printing and Typography
CHARACTERS, TYPEFACES, SERIFS, STROKES
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Thematic Glossary of

CHARACTERS AND TYPEFACES


SUGGESTION: HOW TO EXPLORE THIS GLOSSARY
IF YOU KNOW THE NAME OF A TERM, GO TO THE ALPHABETIC PAGE
eg to find PICA choose the Alphabetic Page N-Q. You will find several meanings of this word, and that it is mostly used in TYPE MEASUREMENTS.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE OTHER TERMS ABOUT TYPE MEASUREMENTS
look in the Thematic Glossary about Typecasting and Type Measurements
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ALPHABETIC
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A,B
C
DEF
G-K
L,M
N-Q
R,S
T-Z
CHOOSE A THEMATIC PAGE:
CHARACTERS, TYPEFACES
LAYOUT, PREPRESS, TYPOGRAPHY
TYPECASTING, MEASUREMENTS
MACHINE TYPESETTING, HOT/COLD
LETTERPRESS COMP, STEREOTYPES
WORKFLOW, PROOFREADING, IMAGES
PRINTING: LETTERPRESS, LITHO
FINISHING: CUT, NUMBER, BIND

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THESE DEFINITIONS INCLUDE:
usu = usually cf = compare with eg = for example typic = typically

NOUN, COUNTABLE accent . . . . . . 2 CHARACTERS
a mark above, below or through a letter to change its value in the language: same as diacritic

NOUN, COUNTABLE accented character CHARACTERS
character with a mark to indicate a changed value - see Diacritic

NOUN, COUNTABLE acute accent CHARACTERS
diacritic above letter, usu vowel, often indicating a sharp sound: a mark rising to the right

NOUN, COUNTABLE ampersand CHARACTERS
symbol representing Latin word et, meaning and: often elaborately designed

NOUN, COUNTABLE asterisk CHARACTERS
reference mark in form of a star, usu raised: the most common reference mark

NOUN, COUNTABLE breve [breev] CHARACTERS
diacritic above letter, usu vowel, to indicate shorter sound or unstress (like inverted U)

NOUN, COUNTABLE bullet CHARACTERS
dot or other character to distinguish items in a list

ABBREVIATION cap(s) CHARACTERS
capital, or majuscule character, or type to be set "all caps"

NOUN, COUNTABLE cedilla CHARACTERS
diacritic below letter, usu C or G, to indicate softer sound: shaped like a hook or comma

NOUN, COUNTABLE character CHARACTERS
each letter, numeral, punctuation mark or other symbol in a fount

NOUN, COUNTABLE circumflex accent CHARACTERS
diacritic above letter, usu vowel, to indicate longer sound or an absorbed letter: shaped like roof

NOUN, COUNTABLE close quote mark CHARACTERS
(in English) the raised comma, usu identical to apostrophe, like a small figure 9

NOUN, COUNTABLE dagger CHARACTERS
reference mark in the shape of a dagger

NOUN, COUNTABLE dash LANGUAGE AND USAGE
punctuation to separate ideas: normally uses the EM RULE character

NOUN, COUNTABLE diacritic CHARACTERS
a more exact term for an accent, a mark above or below or through a letter to change its value

NOUN, COUNTABLE diaeresis CHARACTERS
diacritic over vowel, indicating separation from adjoining vowel: two dots, like the umlaut mark

NOUN, COUNTABLE dingbat CHARACTERS
star, dot, flower, or other mark outside a fount: may be used for separation

NOUN, COUNTABLE diphthong . . . . 1 LANGUAGE AND USAGE
two vowels together, pronounced by sliding, common in English. eg: hay, buy, go, few, cow, boy

NOUN, COUNTABLE diphthong . . . . 2 CHARACTERS
two vowels joined together in one character: AE and OE are not liga tures.

NOUN, COUNTABLE double close quote CHARACTERS
to match the double open quote: a separate character with twin marks on one body

NOUN, COUNTABLE double dagger CHARACTERS
reference mark like a dagger with handles at both ends

NOUN, COUNTABLE double open quote CHARACTERS
a nice touch in some founts: a separate character with the two marks on one body

NOUN, COUNTABLE ellipsis [pl ..pses] LANGUAGE AND USAGE
punctuation consisting of three dots: normally full stops, spaced o ut with fixed thin spaces

NOUN, COUNTABLE em dash CHARACTERS
common name for em rule: the normal dash used for punctuation

NOUN, COUNTABLE em leader CHARACTERS
leader character (usu dots) of one em width: "a 6-dot em leader"

NOUN, COUNTABLE em rule CHARACTERS
horiz rule (normally in centre of body) one (relative) em long: used as dash or for longer lines

NOUN, COUNTABLE em space CHARACTERS
space (between words, as an indent) equal to a relative em (current body size)

NOUN, COUNTABLE full stop [US period LANGUAGE AND USAGE
the dot which ends a sentence or denotes an abbreviation. Period [US]

NOUN, COUNTABLE grave accent [gra:v] CHARACTERS
diacritic above letter, usu vowel, to indicate heavy sound. A mark falling from the left.

ABBREVIATION L/C or LC CHARACTERS
lower case

NOUN, COUNTABLE leader character CHARACTERS
char with qty of dots or dashes: helps to lead the eye, eg in an index. Also for dotted lines.

EQUIVALENT TERM leaders CHARACTERS
see also dotted lines, vertical leaders, rule formes

NOUN, COUNTABLE leaders [leeders] CHARACTERS
line of characters to lead the eye across a page usu dots or dashes

NOUN, COUNTABLE ligature . . . . . 1 CHARACTERS
two or more charac made as one type or glyph: often kerned pairs like ff, fi

MISCONCEPTION / INAPPROP TERM ligature . . . . . 2 CHARACTERS
NOT the letter combinations AE and OE: these are diphthongs, separa te characters

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE lining figures CHARACTERS
numerals all sized like capitals: also called modern figures: see old style figs

ABBREVIATION logo CHARACTERS
logotype

NOUN, COUNTABLE logotype CHARACTERS
word cast as a single type: later included trade symbols etc

NOUN, COUNTABLE low apostrophe CHARACTERS
an alternative apostrophe cast lower to align with x-height letters not common

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE lower case . . . . 2 CHARACTERS
miniscule characters, often simplistically called small letters

NOUN, COUNTABLE macron CHARACTERS
diacritic above letter, usu vowel, to indicate longer sound or syllabic stress (straight bar)

NOUN, COUNTABLE majuscule CHARACTERS
early term for capital letters: of greater proportions

ABBREVIATION MICR CHARACTERS
magnetic ink character recognition [system used on bank cheques etc]

NOUN, COUNTABLE minuscule CHARACTERS
early term for non-capital letters: of smaller proportions

EQUIVALENT TERM modern figures CHARACTERS
same as lining figures

NOUN, COUNTABLE nonbreaking space CHARACTERS
space character which is treated as letter for word-break purposes

NOUN, COUNTABLE old style figures CHARACTERS
figures varying in height: 1,2,0 are x-height; 6,8 ascend; 3,4,5,7, 9 descend

NOUN, COUNTABLE open quote mark CHARACTERS
(in English) the turned comma, like a small figure 6

VERB overstrike CHARACTERS
produce non-standard character or effect by printing a character over another

NOUN, COUNTABLE paragraph symbol CHARACTERS
reference mark, a stylised, reversed P; also used as proofreader's mark

NOUN, COUNTABLE pi character . . . 1 CHARACTERS
character not included in a fount: it must be accessed by special means

NOUN, COUNTABLE raised comma CHARACTERS
the apostrophe/close quote matrix was struck from the comma punch in higher pos'n

NOUN, COUNTABLE reference mark CHARACTERS
symbol used in text to direct the reader to a footnote (exc numbered footnotes)

NOUN, COUNTABLE required hyphen .. 1 CHARACTERS
hyphen needed for hyphenated words: not added by word-break

NOUN, COUNTABLE section symbol CHARACTERS
reference mark, also used to indicate a new section (rare)

EQUIVALENT TERM slug . . . . . . . 1 CHARACTERS
solid circle character, also called a bullet [magazine speak]

NOUN, COUNTABLE small capitals CHARACTERS
alternative alphabet of capitals sized like l/case letters: common in Roman faces

ADJECTIVE subscript CHARACTERS
reduced size and lined below baseline: common for maths and science characters

ADJECTIVE superscript CHARACTERS
reduced size and lined above baseline: common for maths and science characters

NOUN, COUNTABLE swash letter CHARACTERS
letter with flourish: usu alternate: eg l/c e with long tail for end of word

NOUN, COUNTABLE tabular figures CHARACTERS
numeral characters with uniforn set-width, essential for setting tables

EQUIVALENT TERM tied letters CHARACTERS
ligature

NOUN, COUNTABLE tilde CHARACTERS
diacritic above letter to show fluid or nasal sound: a curly bar: ~: also used separately as symbol

NOUN, COUNTABLE turned comma . . . 1 CHARACTERS
before the open quote was cast separately, comps used an upside-down comma

NOUN, COUNTABLE turned comma . . . 2 CHARACTERS
many founts of handset cast even today have no open quote - comma must be turned

NOUN, COUNTABLE umlaut CHARACTERS
diacritic above vowel, to indicate changed value. Consists of two dots, like the diaeresis.

NOUN, COUNTABLE upper case . . . . 2 CHARACTERS
majuscule characters, often called capital letters

NOUN, COUNTABLE vertical rule CHARACTERS
fine vertical line: often matched up from one line to the next: may be double or modified

NOUN, COUNTABLE abrupt serif CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
serif shape suddenly changing direction from the stem

NOUN, COUNTABLE adnate serif CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
serif shape with flowing connection to stem

NOUN, COUNTABLE ascender CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
the rising stem of lowercase letters like b,d,h

NOUN, COUNTABLE ball terminal CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
terminal ending in a ball shape eg the tail of j in some typefaces

NOUN, COUNTABLE beak terminal CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
terminal ending in a spur shape: eg the tops of b, d, h, l in some typefaces

NOUN, COUNTABLE bowl CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
round or elliptical element of a character as in C G O b d q p

NOUN, COUNTABLE bracketed serif CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
serif shape with a wedge or bracket between serif and stem

NOUN, COUNTABLE counter . . . . . 2 CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
part of character enclosed by strokes: a punch cutter's term

NOUN, COUNTABLE descender CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
part of lowercase letters that descends below the baseline

ADJECTIVE double storey CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
l/case a or g which have the closed tail or curved finial. opp: simple a or g

NOUN, COUNTABLE finial CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
decoration or flourish at the end of a stroke, like teardrop or hook

NOUN, COUNTABLE flourish CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
stroke added to character for style rather than meaning

NOUN, COUNTABLE hairline . . . . . 1 CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
the thinnest strokes in design of characters

NOUN, COUNTABLE half-serif terminal CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
terminal ending in serif of which one side is suppressed

NOUN, COUNTABLE kern . . . . . . . 1 CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
part of the face of a type which overhangs the body (handset type)

NOUN, COUNTABLE kern . . . . . . . 2 CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
part of the face of a type which crosses the boundary of a neighbour (photo typeset)

NOUN, COUNTABLE lachrymal terminal CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
fancy term for teardrop terminal

NOUN, COUNTABLE serif CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
cross-stroke at end of stem or terminal: stone engravers use it for neatness

NOUN, COUNTABLE slab serif CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
serif as thick as the bold strokes of character: may be abrupt or a dnate in shape

NOUN, COUNTABLE stem CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
vertical stroke of a character like b d h k l p q B D E F H I K L M N P R T

NOUN, COUNTABLE teardrop terminal CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
terminal ending in teardrop shape

NOUN, COUNTABLE terminal CHARACTER PARTS AND STROKES
free-standing end of a stroke: tops of ascenders, hooks of a,g,j

NOUN, COUNTABLE accent . . . . . . 3 TYPE FACE DESIGNS
the degree to which some strokes of a face are heavier than others: Bodoni has a strong accent

ADJECTIVE antiqua TYPE FACE DESIGNS
European term for Roman typefaces

ADJECTIVE backslanting TYPE FACE DESIGNS
slanting the opposite way from italic

ADJECTIVE blackletter TYPE FACE DESIGNS
typefaces pre-roman like Old English and Fraktur

ADJECTIVE bold TYPE FACE DESIGNS
having strokes thicker than standard or medium

ADJECTIVE bolded TYPE FACE DESIGNS
having strokes made more bold by a computer: may differ from a separately designed bold face

ADJECTIVE condensed TYPE FACE DESIGNS
narrower version of a typeface: puts more characters into a given length

ADJECTIVE cursive TYPE FACE DESIGNS
typeface that resembles handwriting: running style

ADJECTIVE egyptian TYPE FACE DESIGNS
type style with square (slab) serifs and almost uniform strokes. eg Rockwell, Karnak, Memphis

EQUIVALENT TERM expanded type TYPE FACE DESIGNS
same as extended type

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE extended type TYPE FACE DESIGNS
typeface with wider body in relation to its height (opp: condensed)

EQUIVALENT TERM face TYPE FACE DESIGNS
typeface - either the design or the physical surface

NOUN, COUNTABLE family TYPE FACE DESIGNS
a number of related typefaces: eg a Roman and its Italic, its Bold, its condensed

ADJECTIVE gothic TYPE FACE DESIGNS
sans serif typeface with even strokes

ADJECTIVE grotesque TYPE FACE DESIGNS
sans serif typeface similar to gothic

ADJECTIVE italic TYPE FACE DESIGNS
slanted typeface, often with cursive features

VERB italicise . . . . 2 TYPE FACE DESIGNS
produce an italic version of a typeface by computer action: not normally the same as designed ital

ADJECTIVE modern TYPE FACE DESIGNS
type style with straight serifs and vertical shading

ADJECTIVE monospaced TYPE FACE DESIGNS
face in which all characters occupy the same set-width, as typewriter faces

ADJECTIVE oblique . . . . . 1 TYPE FACE DESIGNS
slanted version of face, like italic but without changes from the roman

VERB oblique . . . . . 2 TYPE FACE DESIGNS
modify a face by slanting it. Obliqued faces may be generated on the fly

ABBREVIATION OCR TYPE FACE DESIGNS
optical character recognition

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE old style TYPE FACE DESIGNS
faces having angled stress and tapered serifs

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE optical char. recog TYPE FACE DESIGNS
faces designed in the 1960's for computerised reading with simple scan software

ADJECTIVE outline TYPE FACE DESIGNS
face that is largely 'hollow': just the outline of each character

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE proportional spacing TYPE FACE DESIGNS
set-sizes (body widths) varying to suit characters: most printing types conform to this

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE roman [face] . . . 1 TYPE FACE DESIGNS
a roman is an upright, normal weight, serif face whether oldstyle or modern

NOUN, UNCOUNTABLE roman [face] . . . 2 TYPE FACE DESIGNS
the upright, normal version of a sans serif is often called the roman

ADJECTIVE sans serif TYPE FACE DESIGNS
meaning `without serifs': class of faces designed without serifs: lineale styles

ADJECTIVE serif [face] TYPE FACE DESIGNS
class of faces with serifs: old style, modern or stylised serifs exist

NOUN, COUNTABLE stress TYPE FACE DESIGNS
the angle within a bowl-shaped letter of the variation in stroke thickness: usu near vertical

ADJECTIVE transitional TYPE FACE DESIGNS
face with characteristics in between old style and modern

NOUN, COUNTABLE type family TYPE FACE DESIGNS
a basic typeface and its variants, designed to be used together: the Bembo family

NOUN, COUNTABLE typeface . . . . . 1 TYPE FACE DESIGNS
unifying characteristics of a fount of type: stroke weight, serif shape, stress

ADJECTIVE uncial TYPE FACE DESIGNS
style of manuscript lettering without capitals: some typefaces emulate this

NOUN, COUNTABLE whiteletter TYPE FACE DESIGNS
roman and italic faces (rather than blackletter like Old English)

The definitions and formats in this work Copyright © E. Michael Isaachsen 2000.

Persons wishing to use these are asked to contact the author at Melbourne Museum of Printing.

Comments and suggestions about terms and definitions will be very welcome.

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