italic

See also: Italic

English

A true italic font (bottom).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: ĭtălʹĭk, IPA(key): /ɪˈtælɪk/
  • (US) enPR: ĭtălʹĭk, ītălʹĭk, IPA(key): /ɪˈtælɪk/, /aɪˈtælɪk/

Etymology

The typographic style is so called because first used by an Italian printer, Aldo Manuzio, around 1500.

Adjective

italic (not comparable)

  1. (typography, of a typeface or font) Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
  2. (typography, of a typeface or font) Having letters that slant or lean to the right; oblique.
    The text was impossible to read: every other word was underlined or in a bold or italic font.

Usage notes

An oblique "italic" font.
  • The sense of “oblique” is more recent, and still sometimes criticized, but is now by far the more common sense in everyday use.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

italic (plural italics)

Calligraphy in italic.
  1. (typography) A typeface in which the letters slant to the right.
    • 1902, Theodore Low DeVinne, The Practice of Typography: Correct Composition‎, page 104:
      Names of vessels, as the Kearsarge or the Alabama, are frequently put in italic.
    • 1983, Ida M. Kimber, The Art of Lettering‎, translation of original by Albert Kapr, page 329:
      […] ROBERT GRANJON, possibly in collaboration with CLAUDE GARAMOND, had created an italic which matched Garamond Roman.
  2. An oblique handwriting style, such as used by Italian calligraphers of the Renaissance.
    • 1990, Albert Charles Hamilton, The Spenser Encyclopedia‎, →ISBN, page 345:
      Spenser uses two different scripts: an Elizabethan secretary hand for English texts, and an italic 'mixed' with secretary graphs for Latin texts […]

Translations

See also

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.