In typography, a font (also fount) is traditionally defined as a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface. For example, the set of all characters for 9 point Bulmer italic is a font, and the 10 point size would be a separate font, as would the 9 point regular (upright).

Since the introduction of personal computers, a broader definition has evolved. Because most computer fonts are based on fully scalable outlines, font is no longer size-specific. However, it still refers to a single style. Times New Roman regular, italic, bold and bold italic are four fonts, but one typeface.

However, the term font is also often used as a metonym for typeface.

Etymology

The term font, a cognate of the word fondue, derives from Middle French fonte, meaning "(something that has been) melt(ed)", referring to type produced by casting molten metal at a type foundry. English-speaking printers have used the term fount for centuries to refer to the multi-part metal type used to assemble and print in a particular size and typeface.^[1]

See also

• Computer font

References

• Blackwell, Lewis. 20th Century Type. Yale University Press: 2004. ISBN 0-300-10073-6.
• Fiedl, Frederich, Nicholas Ott and Bernard Stein. Typography: An Encyclopedic Survey of Type Design and Techniques Through History. Black Dog & Leventhal: 1998. ISBN 1-57912-023-7.
• Lupton, Ellen. Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students, Princeton Architectural Press: 2004. ISBN 1-5689-8448-0.
• Macmillan, Neil. An A?Z of Type Designers. Yale University Press: 2006. ISBN 0-300-11151-7.

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