| font |
| Definition - A stylistically unified set of glyphs representing letters, numerals, ideograms, punctuation marks, and symbols. Notes: 1. The terms typeface and font are often used synonymously; however, some claim that the distinction between them is that fonts are proprietary, whereas typefaces are not. |
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Example - The words in this sentence are displayed in some font. |
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Etymology - The word derives from the Middle French fonte, the feminine past participle of fondre, melt. Fonts were so called because all of the letters of a particular font were usually cast from the same batch of melted iron. |
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Oxford English Dictionary - Its first citation in this sense is from 1683: "Fount is the whole number of Letters that are Cast of the same Body and Face at one time." (Moxon Printing No. ii. 32. 13) |
