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The part of a lowercase letter that rises above the main body of the text, such as the upright stroke in b, d, h, or k.

The invisible line that letters sit on, like the ruled line in a notebook. Rounded letters dip slightly below it and descenders hang beneath it.

The curved stroke that encloses the rounded space in letters such as b, d, o, and p. It is the loop that forms the letter's body.

The height of the capital letters in a typeface, measured from the baseline to the top of a letter like H. It helps designers align and compare fonts.

The enclosed or partly enclosed empty space inside a letter, like the hole in an o, a, or e. The size and shape of counters strongly affect how open and readable a typeface feels.

The part of a lowercase letter that drops below the line the text sits on, such as the tails of g, j, p, q, and y.

An oversized first letter at the start of a paragraph that drops down into the lines of text below it. It marks the beginning of a chapter or article with a decorative flourish.

One specific style, weight, and (historically) size drawn from a typeface, such as Helvetica Bold at 12 point. In everyday computer use, 'font' is also loosely used to mean the file you install.

A single drawn shape in a font, such as one letter, number, punctuation mark, or symbol. One character can have several glyph variations, like alternate versions of a letter.

A slanted, often flowing version of a typeface used for emphasis, titles, or foreign words. True italics are redrawn with cursive-style letterforms, not just tilted uprights.

Adjusting the space between two specific letters so they look evenly spaced. It fixes awkward gaps, like the one that can appear between a capital A and a capital V.

The vertical space between lines of text, measured from one baseline to the next. Too little makes lines feel crowded; too much makes them feel disconnected.

A single character that joins two or three letters into one connected shape, most often to stop them from colliding, as in the combined 'fi' or 'fl'. It smooths awkward overlaps.

A slanted version of a typeface made by tilting the upright letters, without redrawing them into a cursive style. Many sans-serif fonts use obliques where a serif font would use a true italic.

The plain, upright version of a typeface, as opposed to its italic or bold styles. It is the default form you read most body text in.

A typeface whose letters have clean ends with no small finishing strokes. Sans-serif fonts like Helvetica and Arial look modern and stay crisp on screens.

The small finishing strokes or 'feet' at the ends of letters in certain typefaces. By extension, a serif typeface is one that has these details, like Times New Roman.

A serif typeface whose finishing strokes are thick, blocky rectangles rather than thin tapered ones. These fonts feel bold and sturdy, and are common on posters and in branding.

Capital letters drawn at roughly the height of lowercase letters, so a word reads in capitals without shouting. Designers use them for abbreviations, headings, and refined emphasis.

The overall tightness or looseness of spacing applied evenly across a stretch of text, rather than between one pair of letters. Loosening it can make small-caps headings feel more open.

The overall design of a set of letters, numbers, and symbols that share a consistent style, such as Helvetica or Garamond. It is the design itself, as opposed to any single digital file.

The complete set of related styles designed to work together under one typeface, such as its light, regular, bold, and italic versions. Using one family keeps a design consistent while allowing variety.

How thick or thin the strokes of a typeface are, ranging from thin and light through regular to bold and black. Different weights create emphasis and hierarchy without changing the font.

The height of the main body of lowercase letters, measured by a letter like x that has no ascender or descender. A large x-height often makes a typeface look bigger and easier to read at small sizes.