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Typography & Lettering Glossary

The Typography & Lettering Glossary defines twenty terms that type designers and letterers use every day, from kerning and x-height to serif, ligature and blackletter. Each entry gives a precise definition, then shows what the idea means for hand lettering and for the styled Unicode text our generators produce.

A

Ampersand
The ampersand is the symbol & meaning "and". It began as a handwritten ligature of the Latin word et, its name comes from the old schoolroom phrase "and per se and", and many typefaces draw it in strikingly elaborate ways.
Aperture
An aperture is the opening at the end of a partly enclosed counter, as on c, e, s, a, G and the lower stem of n. Open apertures keep letters distinct at small sizes; closed apertures give a tighter, more compact look.
Ascender
An ascender is the part of a lowercase letter that extends above the x-height, as in b, d, f, h, k and l. The ascender line, the height these strokes reach, is a key guideline in handwriting and lettering.

B

Baseline
The baseline is the imaginary horizontal line on which the letters of a line of text sit. Descenders hang below it and every vertical measure of a typeface, such as x-height and cap height, starts from it.
Blackletter
Blackletter, also called gothic script, is a family of dense, angular writing styles used in Western Europe from the 12th century. Textura, Rotunda, Schwabacher and Fraktur are its main branches; Old English is a trade name for blackletter type.
Bowl
A bowl is a curved stroke that encloses a space within a letter, as in the round parts of b, d, p, q, B, D, P and R. The space inside the bowl is the counter. Bowls give round letters their weight and rhythm.

C

Cap height
Cap height is the height of capital letters measured from the baseline to the top of a flat-topped capital such as H, E or I. It is one of the main metrics of a typeface and sets the proportions of all-capital lettering.
Combining characters
A combining character is a Unicode mark with no width of its own that draws on top of, under or through the character before it. Accents, strikethrough text, underlines and glitch or zalgo text are all built from combining marks.
Counter
A counter is the empty space enclosed or partly enclosed by a letter's strokes, such as the hole in o, the eye of e or the opening under the arch of n. Counters shape how dark, open and readable a letter looks.

D

Descender
A descender is the part of a letter that extends below the baseline, as in g, j, p, q and y. The depth these strokes reach, the descender line, limits how tightly lines of text can be stacked.
Diacritic
A diacritic is a mark added to a letter to change its sound, stress or meaning, such as the accent in é, the tilde in ñ or the umlaut in ü. In Unicode, many diacritics are combining characters that attach to the letter before them.
Display font
A display font is a typeface designed to be used at large sizes, such as headlines, posters, logos and packaging, where personality matters more than comfort in long reading. It is the counterpart of a text typeface.
Drop cap
A drop cap is an oversized first letter of a paragraph that drops down across two or more lines of text. It signals the start of a chapter or section and traces back to the decorated initials of medieval manuscripts.

E

Ear
An ear is the small stroke that projects from the upper right of the bowl of a lowercase g. Its shape, flick, horizontal, curl or drop, is one of the quickest ways to tell typefaces apart.

F

Fraktur
Fraktur is a style of blackletter developed in Germany in the 16th century, with pointed, broken curves and sharp contrast. Unicode includes mathematical Fraktur letters, which fancy text generators use for gothic-style text.

G

Glyph
A glyph is a specific visual shape stored in a font, such as one drawing of the letter a. A character is the abstract unit of text, and a code point is the number Unicode assigns to it; fonts map characters to glyphs.

I

Italic vs oblique
An italic is a separate, redrawn companion to a roman typeface, often with different letterforms; an oblique is the same roman letters just slanted. Many sans-serif fonts use obliques, while most serif fonts have true italics.

K

Kerning
Kerning is the adjustment of the space between one specific pair of letters, such as A and V, so the gaps in a word look optically even. It changes pairs, not whole words; spacing applied to every letter is tracking.

L

Leading
Leading (pronounced "ledding") is the vertical distance from the baseline of one line of text to the baseline of the next, usually measured in points. It is what most people call line spacing.
Ligature
A ligature is a single glyph that replaces two or more letters that would otherwise collide, such as fi, fl or ffi. Standard ligatures are applied automatically by the font; discretionary ones are decorative and optional.

M

Majuscule and minuscule
Majuscule is the scholarly word for capital letters, and minuscule for lowercase letters. A script that has both is bicameral; Latin, Greek, Cyrillic and Armenian are, while most other scripts have just one case.
Monospace
A monospace font is a typeface in which every character occupies the same horizontal width, so an i takes as much space as an m. Typewriters, terminals and code editors use them to keep text aligned in columns.

P

Pangram
A pangram is a sentence that contains every letter of the alphabet at least once. The best known English example is "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"; designers use pangrams to preview fonts and test every letter.
Point size
Point size is the standard unit for the size of type. In digital design one point is 1/72 of an inch, and a point size describes the font's em height, not the visible height of its letters, so two fonts at 12 pt can look different.

S

Sans serif
Sans serif describes a typeface whose letters have no serifs, the small finishing strokes at the ends of stems. The term is French for "without serif"; Helvetica, Arial and Futura are common examples.
Script font
A script font is a typeface whose letters imitate handwriting or pen calligraphy, usually slanted and often joined. Formal scripts follow calligraphic models; casual scripts imitate brush or marker handwriting.
Serif
A serif is the small finishing stroke added at the end of the main strokes of a letter. A serif typeface is one whose letters have these terminals, such as Times New Roman or Garamond; one without them is sans-serif.
Slab serif
A slab serif is a serif typeface with thick, rectangular serifs and little contrast between thick and thin strokes. Rockwell, Clarendon and Courier are well-known examples, and the style is also called Egyptian.
Small caps
Small caps are capital letter shapes drawn to about the height of lowercase letters. True small caps are separate glyphs with matched stroke weight; scaled-down capitals look too thin. Unicode also has small capital letters for copy-and-paste text.
Stem
A stem is the main, usually vertical stroke of a letter, such as the straight line in l, d, b, h, T or I. Stem thickness sets a font's weight, and stems are the main guide for spacing and rhythm.
Swash
A swash is an ornamental extension of a letter, such as an exaggerated tail, entry stroke or flourish. Swash capitals and alternate letters appear in italic and script typefaces and are usually switched on through OpenType features.

T

Terminal
A terminal is the end of a stroke that does not end in a serif. It can be flat, angled, rounded, a ball, a teardrop or a flick, and the choice gives a typeface much of its personality, from formal to friendly.
Tracking
Tracking is the uniform adjustment of space between all the letters in a selection of text, such as a word, line or paragraph. It changes how dense the text looks. Adjusting one specific pair of letters is kerning, not tracking.

X

x-height
The x-height is the height of the lowercase letters that have no ascenders or descenders, such as x, a, e and o, measured from the baseline to the top of the letter. It is the main reason two fonts at the same size look bigger or smaller.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content

Key facts

  • The glossary has 20 entries in four groups: spacing, letter anatomy, typeface styles, and characters and shapes.
  • Kerning adjusts the space between one pair of letters, tracking changes spacing across a whole selection, and leading is the distance between lines, baseline to baseline.
  • A glyph is the shape a font draws for a character, and a ligature is one glyph for two or more letters, like fi.
  • Fancy Unicode text swaps letters for different characters instead of changing the font, which is why pasted bold text is not typographic bold.
  • Blackletter is the angular medieval family and Fraktur is its German branch, and the Unicode block for the copy-and-paste letters is labelled Fraktur.
  • Definitions follow common type-design usage and, for characters and code points, the Unicode Standard.

Type has its own vocabulary, and most of it is precise. The terms below describe how letters are built, spaced and classified. Each entry gives a short definition, a longer explanation with examples, and two angles that general typography sites leave out: what the concept means when you draw letters by hand, and what it means for the styled Unicode text produced by our generators.

Where should I start with the Typography & Lettering Glossary?

If you are new to the subject, start with what is lettering, then read the two comparison guides: font vs typeface, which explains how the two words differ, and serif vs sans-serif, which explains the two big families. Then pick the group below that matches your question.

What are the spacing terms?

  • Kerning: adjusting the space between one pair of letters.
  • Tracking: changing the spacing across a whole selection.
  • Leading: the distance between lines, baseline to baseline.

What are the parts of a letter called?

  • Baseline: the line letters sit on.
  • x-height: the height of lowercase letters such as x and e.
  • Cap height: the height of flat capitals such as H.
  • Ascender: the part of a letter above the x-height, as in b and d.
  • Descender: the part below the baseline, as in g and y.
  • Serif: the finishing stroke at the end of a stem.
  • Swash: an ornamental extension of a letter.
  • Diacritic: a mark added to a letter, such as an accent.

What are the main typeface styles?

What are glyphs and ligatures?

  • Glyph: the shape a font draws for a character.
  • Ligature: one glyph for two or more letters, like fi.

How do these terms connect to the generators?

Many entries end with a link to the generator that shows the idea in use. Blackletter and Fraktur connect to the old English text generator, the monospace entry to the typewriter-style output, and the diacritic entry to the glitch text generator and strikethrough text generator, whose effects are built from combining marks. If a character looks wrong on your device, why fancy text shows boxes explains the glyph and font reasons behind it.

Corrections to the Typography & Lettering Glossary are welcome; our editorial policy describes how we check and update entries.

Frequently asked questions

Basics

Why does a lettering and fancy text site have a typography glossary?
Our generators swap letters for Unicode characters, so people keep running into typography ideas: why bold text is not a font, why ligatures vanish, why marks stack in glitch text. Each entry explains the term, then shows how it applies to hand lettering and to copy-and-paste text.
What is the difference between typography terms and lettering terms?
They overlap. Typography describes how letters designed by someone else are arranged: spacing, size, line length. Lettering is drawing the letters themselves. Terms like baseline, x-height and serif apply to both, and our guide on lettering explains where the two crafts differ.
Do I need to know these terms to use the generators?
No. The generators work without any typography knowledge: type, tap Copy and paste. The terms help when something looks odd, for example why bold text is not a font, why a ligature disappears or why marks stack in glitch text. Read an entry when a question comes up, not before.
Which terms describe the spacing of letters and lines?
Three: kerning, tracking and leading. Kerning adjusts the space between one pair of letters, tracking changes the spacing across a whole selection, and leading is the distance between lines, baseline to baseline. They are grouped together under Spacing, and each links to its own entry with lettering and Unicode notes.
Which terms describe the height and parts of a letter?
Baseline, x-height, cap height, ascender and descender describe where a letter sits and how tall it is, while serif, swash and diacritic describe parts and marks added to it. The Letter anatomy list gives a one-line definition of each and links to the full entry.
Which terms name the main typeface styles?
Serif, sans serif and slab serif are the three main families by terminal shape. Script font imitates joined handwriting, blackletter and Fraktur are the angular medieval family, monospace gives every character the same width, and display fonts are designed for large sizes. Each term has its own page.

Where it works

Are the definitions based on a standard?
They follow common type-design usage and, for characters and code points, the Unicode Standard. Typographers do not all agree on every boundary, such as where script ends and calligraphic styles begin, so where practice varies the entries say so instead of choosing a single answer.
Which glossary terms apply to fancy text?
Several. Blackletter and Fraktur explain the old English text generator, monospace explains typewriter-style output, and diacritic explains the combining marks behind glitch and strikethrough text. Glyph explains why some characters show as boxes. Many entries end with a link to the generator that shows the idea in use.

How it works

Where should a beginner start in the glossary?
Read what is lettering, then the two comparison guides, font vs typeface and serif vs sans-serif. After that, open the glossary group that matches your question: spacing, letter anatomy, typeface styles or characters and shapes. Each entry is short and links onward.

Tips & limits

Why do ligatures vanish in pasted styled text?
A ligature is a single glyph that a font substitutes for two or more ordinary letters, like fi. Styled text swaps each letter for a separate Unicode character, so there is no plain fi for the font to join. See the ligature entry for the definition.
How are glossary entries checked and corrected?
Entries follow common type-design usage and, for characters and code points, the Unicode Standard. Where typographers disagree, the entry says so. Our editorial policy describes how pages are checked, updated and corrected, and corrections are welcome through the contact page.