CSS font-family glossary

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

serifless Roman - (Found June 24, 2008 )

A term used by Hermann Zapf to describe fonts with strokes which widen towards the end without distinct serifs.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#seriflessroman

Article feedback - (Found June 24, 2008 )

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http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#feedback

wedge, wedge serif - (Found June 24, 2008 )

Wedge serifs have a straight angular fill between the main stroke and the serif (below).
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#wedgeserif

Venetian, Humane - (Found June 24, 2008 )

An historic classification of old style fonts that have wedge serifs on minuscule, bracket serifs on the main letter strokes, a left-inclined axis, minimal contrast, and upwards sloping cross-strokes on the letter e.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#venetian

Typewriter - (Found June 24, 2008 )

A form of slab serif font that has a fixed width and an even weight to the strokes and serifs.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#typewriter

transition - (Found June 24, 2008 )

The "gradient" between the thin and thick part of the curved strokes of a font that has contrast, i.e. how sharply the strokes cut away from thick to thin. The gradient is not the same as the axis of a font, but is obviously affected by the degree of contrast.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#transition

swash - (Found June 24, 2008 )

Extended strokes that extend far beyond the normal vertical and horizontal extent of a character, common amongst cursive and fantasy fonts.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#swash

stress - (Found June 24, 2008 )

The direction and degree of incline in the axis of a font with contrast.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#stress

slab, slab serif, Egyptian serif, Mecane - (Found June 24, 2008 )

Slab serifs, or Egyptian serifs, have visually square serifs such that the thickness of the serif is about equal to its extension from the main stroke. Slab serif fonts generally have regular geometric shapes with no brackets, but include variant sub-types: Clarendons, which have brackets; and Typewriter, which also have an even weight to their main strokes and whose characters are fixed width (see below). Examples of the latter include Courier New and Typewriter.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#slabserif

minuscule - (Found June 24, 2008 )

The lower case form of a letter.
http://www.codestyle.org/css/font-family/Glossary.shtml#minuscule