CSS font-family glossary

Glossary of terms about the CSS font-family property, with selected examples.

Navigation - (Found June 24, 2008 )

Home page
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#sitenav

Script, Scripte - (Found June 24, 2008 )

A form of cursive font that is typically inclined to the right, giving the appearance of flowing, hand written lettering with flourishes.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#script

Sans Serif, sans-serif, Grotesque, Gothic, Lineale - (Found June 24, 2008 )

Sans serif font styles have no serifs and generally have minimal contrast, their strokes are very even and sometimes heavy. Sans serif have a "clean", minimalist appearance and include variant sub-types:
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#sansserif

Roman - (Found June 24, 2008 )

In traditional typesetting terms, the "normal", "regular", non-bold form of a font, but also a generic term for "Romanesque" type faces.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#roman

Old Style, old face - (Found June 24, 2008 )

An historical classification of Renaissance period "Romanesque" font styles that includes sub-classes Venetian and Garalde. These fonts are characterised by wedge serifs on minuscules, bracket serifs on the main strokes and a left-inclined, or oblique, axis. Old style fonts have lower contrast between the thick and thin strokes than modern faces. Examples include Bembo, Janson and Garamond.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#oldstyle

monospace - (Found June 24, 2008 )

In CSS terms, monospace is a generic font-family category that includes fixed width or typewriter style fonts and should be used as a "fall back" after a series of named fonts:
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#monospace

italic - (Found June 24, 2008 )

A cursive font style or variant that is usually inclined to the right and often used for emphasis or to stress specific words. A font style specified by the CSS declaration font-style: italic and commonly attached to the HTML elements <em> and <i> by default.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#italic

modern figures, lined numerals, lining numerals - (Found June 24, 2008 )

Arabic style numerals that have the same vertical height and position as the capitals in a font, as opposed to old style or non-lining numerals that descend beneath the base line of the font.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#modernfigures

Modern, Didone - (Found June 24, 2008 )

An historical classification of 17th and 18th century font styles that are characterised by horizontal non-bracketed hair serifs, a precise upright style with no inclination to the axis (i.e. vertical stress), relatively strong contrast with short transitions. Examples include Didot, Bodoni, Bell, Century.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#modern

Serif, serif, Serif font - (Found June 24, 2008 )

Serif font styles are named after the small decorative strokes that cross the ends of the main letter strokes, called serifs. There are several historic classifications for serif fonts, which are distinguished by their stroke weight, shape and attachment to the main strokes of a letter. See Old Style, Venetian, Garalde, Transitional, Modern and Slab Serif.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#serif