• SERIF: a classification of a typeface with tapered corners on the ends of the letter stroke
  
  
• SANS-SERIF: a classification of a typeface with no serifs
  
  
• FONT:  a set of all characters in a typeface at a particular type size
  
  
• TYPEFACE: In typography, a specific variation within a type family, such as roman, italic, bold, etc.
  
  
• TYPE STYLE: a specific attribute within a typeface’s family such as italic, bold, bold italic, condensed, expanded, black or outline.
  
  
• TYPE FAMILY: a group of style variations of a single typeface such as weight, width, and slope that are designed to work together.
  
  
• TEXT TYPE: type designed for body copy to be easily read in large quantities at small sizes (8 to 12 points)
  
  
• DISPLAY TYPE: large or eye-catching type used for headings or advertisements (14 points & larger)
  
  

• CHARACTERS: Any individual letter, numeral, or punctuation mark.
  
  
• ASCENDER: the lowercase character stroke which extends above the x-height
  
  
• DESCENDER: the lowercase character stroke which extends below the baseline
  
  
• X-HEIGHT: The height equal to the height of the lowercase 'x' measured in points
  
  
• BASELINE: the imaginary line upon which most letters sit
  
  
• STROKE CONTRAST: the difference in thickness of the strokes of a character from the thickest to the thinnest
  
  
• STRESS: the direction of the stroke weight when you draw a line through the thinnest points in the letter 
  
  
• DROP CAP: The first letter of a paragraph that is enlarged to "drop" down two or more lines
  
  
• LIGATURE: Character pairs which have been re-designed as optional single characters such as &
  
  
• TYPE SIZE: The height of a typeface from the top of the tallest letterform to the bottom of the lowest one, measured in points.
  
  
• POINTS: the measurement to indicate the VERTICAL size of type and space between lines (leading)
  
  
• PICAS: the measurement typically used to represent the HORIZONTAL type or page measurements
  
  

• KERNING: adjusting the space between two pairs of letters to create a visually even texture and improve readability
  
  
• TRACKING: adjusting the space between groups of letters or entire text blocks to change line length and readability
  
  
• LEADING: the space between lines of type from baseline to baseline measured in points.
  
  
• SET SOLID: when the point size of a font is set equal to leading.
  
  
• RIGHT ALIGNED: text that is aligned along the right margin or gutter with ragged lines on the left
  
  
• LEFT ALIGNED: text that is aligned along the left margin or gutter with ragged right lines on the right
  
  
• CENTERED ALIGNMENT: text is not even on the left or right margin but there is an even gap on each side of each line
  
  
• JUSTIFIED ALIGNMENT: text that lines up evenly on both the left and right sides except for the last line of a paragraph
  
  
• FORCED JUSTIFIED: text that lines up evenly on both the left and right sides AND forces the last line to also end at the right margin
  
  
• WIDOWS: when the last line of a paragraph is less than one-third the width of the line
  
  
• ORPHANS: when the last line of a paragraph falls alone at the top of a column

• LEGIBILITY: the ease with which a reader can recognize individual characters in a text determined by typeface design
  
  
• READABILITY: the ease with which a reader can recognize words, sentences, and paragraphs determined by type usage

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