Serif

Image:Serif and sans-serif 01.svg Sans-serif font Image:Serif and sans-serif 02.svg Serif font Image:Serif and sans-serif 03.svg Serif font(serifs in red)


A serif is a term in typography. If a letter is made of a line or lines, a serif is a tiny decorative line on the ends of letter's 'limbs'. Thus, in the illustration on the right, each serif letter has a serif on the end of its lines. Alphabetic typefaces either have serifs or not. Those without are called sans-serif.

The design of our typefaces started in the 15th century, when the early printers used moulds from which letters made of lead were produced.Gray, Nicolete 1986. A history of lettering: creative experiment and letter identity, p16, p25 and chapters 9 and 10. Oxford: Phaidon.

However, the original source of the serif may be in monumental inscriptions. Serifs are on the letters at the base of Trajan's column (built 107~113 AD), and are clearly illustrated in standard textbooks on typography. Indeed, older literature often describes typefaces with serifs as Roman. The word serif seems to be an early 19th century innovation.OED first mention of serif in 1830.

 Related pages 
Typography
Sans serif
Font

 References 

Category:Typography
Category:History of printing