Type Anatomy

• Aperture

  Aperture: The opening of a letterform.

  

• Apex

  Apex: The highest point of a letterform; where two strokes meet.

  

• Arc

  Arc: A curved portion of an letter form.

  

• Arm

  Arm: A horizontal stroke extending from the stem of a letter.

  

• Ascender

  Ascender: Part of a lowercase letter that extends above the x-height.

  

• Ascender Height

  Ascender Height: Distance between the x-height and the ascender line.

  

• Ascent Line

  Ascent Line: Imaginary line indicating the highest character height. This is typically past the cap height.

  

• Axis

  Axis: Imaginary line through the center of a letterform.

  

• Baseline

  Baseline: Imaginary line on which characters rest.

  

• Beak

  Beak: Small, pointed serif at the end of a stroke.

  

• Bilateral Serif

  Bilateral Serif: Serif with equal thickness on both sides.

  

• Body Width

  Body Width: Width of a single character.

  

• Bowl

  Bowl: Curved enclosure of a letter, like in 'o' or 'b'.

  

• Bracket

  Bracket: The curve connection on the stem and serif.

  

• Cap Height

  Cap Height: Height of uppercase letters.

  

• Cap Line

  Cap Line: Imaginary line indicating the top of capital characters.

  

• Character Width

  Character Width: Width of a single character, including spacing.

  

• Counter (Open)

  Counter (Open): White space enclosed by a letterform.

  

• Counter (Closed)

  Counter (Closed): Enclosed space within a letter, like in 'b' or 'd'.

  

• Cross Stroke

  Cross Stroke: Horizontal stroke across a letter, like in 'A'.

  

• Crotch

  Crotch: Junction of two strokes like 'y' and 'v'; typically it's on the bottom of the character.

  

• Descender

  Descender: Part of a lowercase letter extending below the baseline.

  

• Descender Line

  Descender Line: Imaginary line indicating the bottom of descenders.

  

• Diacritic

  Diacritic: Mark above or below a letter, like accents.

  

• Ear

  Ear: Curved top part of a letter, like in 'g'.

  

• Eye

  Eye: Central opening of a letter, like in 'e', 'o'.

  

• Finial

  Finial Ending stroke of a letter, often curved.

  

• Foot

  Foot: Lower part of a letter, often with a serif.

  

• Hairline

  Hairline: Very thin stroke in a letterform.

  

• Head Serif

  Head Serif: Serif at the top of a vertical stroke.

  

• Joint

  Joint: Connection between strokes and stems in a letterform.

  

• Leg

  Leg: Descending stroke of a letter, like in 'k' or 'y'.

  

• Ligature

  Ligature: Combination of two or more letters into a single glyph.

  

• Link/Neck

  Link/Neck: Connection between bowl and loop in a letter.

  

• Loop

  Loop: Open curved bottom in a double story letter like 'g'.

  

• Overhang

  Overhang: Part of a stroke extending beyond the baseline.

  

• Serif

  Serif: Small projection at the end of a stroke.

  

• Shoulder

  Shoulder: Curved part of a letter, like in 'h'.

  

• Spine

  Spine: Main vertical stroke of a letter.

  

• Spur

  Spur: Small projection at the end of a serif.

  

• Stem

  Stem: Main vertical or horizontal stroke of a letter.

  

• Stress

  Stress: Thicker part of a stroke.

  

• Tail

  Tail: Descending stroke of a letter, like in 'g' or 'q'.

  

• Tittle

  Tittle: Small dot above a letter, like in 'i' or 'j'.

  

• Terminal

  Terminal: Ending of a stroke in a letterform.

  

• Vertex

  Vertex: The bottom point where two strokes meet.

  

• X-Height

  X-Height: Height of lowercase letters without ascenders or descenders.

  

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