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This is a glossary of terms used in the Web font sampler subsection. If you cannot find the term you are seeking here, please use the feedback form below to request a definition.

ascender

The upper part of a lowercase letter that extends above the ex height, as with b, d, f, h, k, l, and t.

See also, descender.

axis

The apparent line between the thinnest points on the upper and lower parts of a font that has contrast; strongly indicated on the letter o.

Large scale letter o with a left inclined axis marked in red

Baroque Old Style

See Transitional.

bracket, bracket serif

Bracketed serifs have a curved fill between the main strokes of a letter and the serif (see below). Examples include Times New Roman.

Large scale illustration of a bracket serif

Clarendons

A form of Slab Serif with brackets whose main strokes are heavy, with slightly finer serifs.

condensed

Font variants which are narrower than standard forms and typically set closer together.

A sample of the condensed font Arial Narrow

contrast

The degree of difference in the thickness of strokes in a font, especially on a curved stroke. Sans serif fonts typically have little or no contrast, serif and cursive fonts usually have higher contrast.

See also axis and transition.

cursive, cursive

Cursive font styles emulate handwritten letter forms and typically have strong contrast, as if written with a broad nib pen, and are usually inclined to the right.

In CSS terms, cursive is also a generic font-family category that includes cursive or script style fonts and should be used as a "fall back" after a series of named fonts: 

P.Signature{
  font-family:      "Comic Sans MS"
                    "Brush Script MT"
                    cursive;
}

See the Code Style cursive font sampler for a guide to common fonts in this category by platform.

Cursive class fonts are not recommended for extended body text.

descender

The lower part of a lowercase letter that extends beneath the base line of a font, as with g, j, p, q and y.

See also, ascender.

Egyptian, Egyptian Serif

A heavy style of Slab Serif where the serifs are as thick as the main strokes.

en, en width

A type measure that is half the width of an em unit, nominally based on the width of the letter n.

em, em height, em length

A unit of measure for fonts that is the length between the top and bottom of the upper case letter M. This measure is independent of the scale at which the font is reproduced and may be used to describe the vertical proportion of a font in relation to its ex height, strongly indicated on the lower case letters b, d, h and k.

Em can be used as a proportional unit of length in CSS to scale properties in relation to the default font size settings in a users' browser: 

P{
  line-height:      2em;
}
ex, ex height, ex length, x-height

A unit of measure for fonts that is the length between the top and bottom of the lower case letter x. This measure is independent of the scale at which the font is reproduced and may be used to describe the vertical proportion of a font in relation to its em height, strongly indicated on the lower case letters b, d, h and k.

Ex can be used as a proportional unit of length in CSS, but this is not reliably implemented in some Web browsers and generally percentage or em units are more advisable: 

P{
  margin-left:      1ex;
}
extended

A font variant whose letters are wider and more broadly spaced than the standard font, cf. condensed.

fantasy

In CSS terms, a generic font-family category that includes decorative or display fonts and should be used as a "fall back" after a series of named fonts: 

H1.PosterHead{
  font-family:      Algerian
                    "Lucida Grand"
                    fantasy;
}

See the Code Style fantasy font sampler for a guide to common fonts in this category by platform.

Fantasy class fonts are not recommended for low scale body text.

Garalde

An historical classification of old style fonts that have wedge serifs on minuscules, bracket serifs on the main strokes, a left-inclined axis but greater contrast than Venetian style fonts. Examples include Garamond and Palatino.

Grotesque, Gothic

An alternative term for sans serif type faces, which were considered ugly when first used from the 1850s. The American term "Gothic" is also used to describe Grotesque faces.

The term gothic suggests a geometric design like Avant Garde, Futura or Century Gothic, where the rounded strokes on o, b, d, p and q are almost perfect circles and all strokes are constant width.

hair, hairlines, hair serif

Hair serifs have a very fine, "hairline" stroke weight (see below).

Large scale illustration of a hair serif

lower case

The small letters or minuscules of a font.

majuscules

An alternative term for capitals, upper case letters or "caps".

minuscule

The lower case form of a letter.

Modern, Didone

An historical classification of 17th and 18th century font styles that are characterised by horizontal non-bracketed hair serifs, a precise upright style with no inclination to the axis (i.e. vertical stress), relatively strong contrast with short transitions. Examples include Didot, Bodoni, Bell, Century.

modern figures, lined numerals, lining numerals

Arabic style numerals that have the same vertical height and position as the capitals in a font, as opposed to old style or non-lining numerals that descend beneath the base line of the font.

italic

A cursive font style or variant that is usually inclined to the right and often used for emphasis or to stress specific words. A font style specified by the CSS declaration font-style: italic and commonly attached to the HTML elements <em> and <i> by default.

monospace

In CSS terms, monospace is a generic font-family category that includes fixed width or typewriter style fonts and should be used as a "fall back" after a series of named fonts: 

PRE{
  font-family:      "Courier New"
                    Courier
                    monospace;
}

Monospace class fonts are typically used to represent code samples, but are quite readable as body text.

See the Code Style monospace font sampler for a guide to common fonts in this category by platform.

Old Style, old face

An historical classification of Renaissance period "Romanesque" font styles that includes sub-classes Venetian and Garalde. These fonts are characterised by wedge serifs on minuscules, bracket serifs on the main strokes and a left-inclined, or oblique, axis. Old style fonts have lower contrast between the thick and thin strokes than modern faces. Examples include Bembo, Janson and Garamond.

Roman

In traditional typesetting terms, the "normal", "regular", non-bold form of a font, but also a generic term for "Romanesque" type faces.

In CSS terms the Roman style is declared by font-weight: normal;, which is the standard vertical form of a font, in contrast to a bold or italic variant.

Roman weight is also known as Book, Regular or Medium.

Sans Serif, sans-serif, Grotesque, Gothic, Lineale

Sans serif font styles have no serifs and generally have minimal contrast, their strokes are very even and sometimes heavy. Sans serif have a "clean", minimalist appearance and include variant sub-types:

  • Early or Neo-Grotesque: Examples include Arial and Helvetica.
  • Geometric (Bauhaus): Examples include Century Gothic, Avant Garde and Futura.
  • Humanist: Examples include Gill Sans.

For CSS, sans-serif is also a generic font-family value and should be used as a "fall back" after a series of named fonts: 

H1{
  font-family:      sans-serif;
}
BLOCKQUOTE{
  font-family:      "Avant Garde",
                    "Century Gothic",
                    sans-serif;
}

See the Code Style sans serif font sampler for a guide to common fonts in this category by platform.

Script, Scripte

A form of cursive font that is typically inclined to the right, giving the appearance of flowing, hand written lettering with flourishes.

Serif, serif, Serif font

Serif font styles are named after the small decorative strokes that cross the ends of the main letter strokes, called serifs. There are several historic classifications for serif fonts, which are distinguished by their stroke weight, shape and attachment to the main strokes of a letter. See Old Style, Venetian, Garalde, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif.

Serif types are also characterised by the form of the serif they take, which fall into four broad categories: bracketed, hairline, wedge and slab serifs.

In CSS terms, serif is also a generic font-family value and should be used as a "fall back" after a series of named fonts: 

H1{
  font-family:      serif;
}
BLOCKQUOTE{
  font-family:      Roman,
                    "Times New Roman",
                    serif;
}

See the Code Style serif font sampler for a guide to common fonts in this category by platform.

serifless Roman

A term used by Hermann Zapf to describe fonts with strokes which widen towards the end without distinct serifs.

slab, slab serif, Egyptian serif, Mecane

Slab serifs, or Egyptian serifs, have visually square serifs such that the thickness of the serif is about equal to its extension from the main stroke. Slab serif fonts generally have regular geometric shapes with no brackets, but include variant sub-types: Clarendons, which have brackets; and Typewriter, which also have an even weight to their main strokes and whose characters are fixed width (see below). Examples of the latter include Courier New and Typewriter.

Large scale illustration of a slab serif

stress

The direction and degree of incline in the axis of a font with contrast.

swash

Extended strokes that extend far beyond the normal vertical and horizontal extent of a character, common amongst cursive and fantasy fonts.

transition

The "gradient" between the thin and thick part of the curved strokes of a font that has contrast, i.e. how sharply the strokes cut away from thick to thin. The gradient is not the same as the axis of a font, but is obviously affected by the degree of contrast.

Transitional, transitional type, Baroque Old Style, Reale

An historic classification of post-Renaissance period font styles characterised by a sloping top and horizontal bottom to serifs on minuscules, flat non-bracketed serifs on main strokes, little or no inclination to the axis and greater contrast than Garalde faces. Examples include Baskerville and Times.

Typewriter

A form of slab serif font that has a fixed width and an even weight to the strokes and serifs.

Venetian, Humane

An historic classification of old style fonts that have wedge serifs on minuscule, bracket serifs on the main letter strokes, a left-inclined axis, minimal contrast, and upwards sloping cross-strokes on the letter e.

wedge, wedge serif

Wedge serifs have a straight angular fill between the main stroke and the serif (below).

Large scale illustration of a wedge serif

x-height

See ex.

Sources

This glossary is partly derived from History of Typeface by Matthias Neuber and Morten K. Pedersen, The Thames and Hudson Dictionary of Graphic Design and Designers, and other sources.

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