Type Anatomy Vocab Flashcards
1
Q
Aperture
A
the opening at the end of an open counter
2
Q
Apex
A
- the point at the top of a character
- such as the uppercase “A” where the left and right strokes meet is the apex
- the apex may be a sharp point, blunt, or rounded and is an identifying feature for some typefaces
3
Q
Arm
A
horizontal stroke not connected to the stem on at least one side
4
Q
Arc of stem
A
- Curved stroke continuous with stem
- lowercase “j”
5
Q
Ascender
A
- on lowercase letters, the stroke that rises above the x-height of the letter: b,d,f,h,k,i and t
- any capital letter
6
Q
Ball terminal
A
terminal that is circular in shape
7
Q
Barb
A
a type of half serif on the horizontal arms of E, F, L, and T
8
Q
Baseline
A
the invisible or imaginary line on which the body of lowercase letters and the base of all capital letters rest
9
Q
Beak
A
a type of half serif found on the horizontal arms of E, F, L, and T
10
Q
Bowl
A
- the curved stroke that encloses a space within a character.
- in an open bowl, the stroke does not meet the stem, whereas in a closed bowl the stroke does meet the stem
11
Q
Bracketing
A
refers to the curved connection between the stroke of a letterform and the serif
12
Q
Cap-Height
A
the height of the capital letter from the baseline
13
Q
Concave
A
Curving inward
14
Q
Convex
A
curving or bulging outward
15
Q
Counter
A
a negative space within a character that may be fully or partially enclosed
16
Q
Cross bar
A
- the horizontal or oblique stroke connected at both ends as in an A or H
- sometimes referred to as a bar
17
Q
Crotch
A
- the pointed interior negative space where an arm or arc meets a stem
- an acute crotch is less than 90 degrees
- an obtuse crotch is greater than 90 degrees
18
Q
Descender
A
- that part of a lowercase letter that extends below the baseline.
- The letters g, j, p, q, and y all have descenders
19
Q
Extender
A
- a term used to refer to both ascenders and descenders
- named such because they extend beyond the body of the font
20
Q
Eye
A
the counter or enclosed area at the top of the lowercase e
21
Q
Foot
A
bottom of stem which rests on the baseline
22
Q
Finial
A
- the non-serif ending added to a stroke
- which is classified as ball, swash, spur, or hook
- the shape of the final may taper
23
Q
Flag
A
decorative, curved strokes connected to the stem of an uppercase gothic or black letter face
24
Q
Gadzook
A
embellishment that connect a ligature
25
Italic
- type style with characters slanted upward to the right
- used for emphasis
26
Jot
the dot of a lowercase i or j
27
Leg
- a stroke that extends downward at less than 90 degrees is a leg
- seen on the letters k, K, and R
28
Ligature
- a combination of two or more characters that are joined into one form which are not commonly combined
- Originally ligatures were cast as one piece of lead to simulate handwriting and to protect the extenders on previous and subsequent lines of text
29
Link
the stroke connecting the bowl and loop of the lowercase g
30
Loop
the lower portion of the lowercase g
31
Lowercase
also referred to as Minuscule or lc there smaller letterforms include ascenders and descenders
32
Main Stem
the thickest stroke of a character
33
Majuscule
the capital version of a letterform
34
Mean Line
the imaginary line defining the height of lowercase letters excluding ascenders, also called the x-height, body line, or waistline
35
Pica
A typesetting unit of measure equal to approximately 1/16th of an inch, 12 points or 0.013837 inches
36
Point
a typesetting unit of measure used to specify the height of a typeface equal to approximately 1/72nd of an inch pr 1/12th of a pica
37
serif
short, delicate, decorative cross lines or tails at the end of the main strokes in many letters and symbols in some typefaces
38
Shoulder
- a curved portion of the stroke of a letterform that connects to a straight stroke
- as in the lowercase m. n. and h
39
Spine
the main curve stroke of the letter S
40
Splayed
defines the stem of a character that is wider at the top and bottom, than it is toward the center
41
Spur
the nodule descending from the vertical stroke of an uppercase G connecting the straight stroke to the curved stroke
42
Stem Stroke
the vertical main stroke of a character
43
Stress
thick to thin transition in the stroke of a letter
44
Stroke
any line required as part of the basic construction of a letterform, not including serifs or swashes
45
Swash
a fancy flourish that replaces the terminal or serif on scripts and alternate characters
46
Tail
- a stroke or arc of a character starting from the mail stroke or structure of a letterform and extending downward with one end free
- as seen in the letters R, K, and Q
47
Terminal
the free end of a stroke, available in different variations such as sheared, ball, straight, acute, horizontal, convex, concave, flared, hooked, tapered, and pointed
48
Tittle
the name of the dot above the lowercase i
49
Uppercase
capital letters
50
Vertex
- the outer downward juncture of 2 angled stems where the resulting point touches just below the baseline
- different types of vertices include rounded, pointed, hollow, flat, and extended
51
Waistline
the invisible or imaginary horizontal rule that indicates the top of the body height of the lowercase letters, also called the x-height
52
x-height
the height of the body of lowercase letters, excluding ascenders and descenders as measured from the baseline to the waistline
