Initial

In a written or published work, an initial or drop cap is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is comes from the Latin initialis, which means standing at the beginning.  An initial is often several lines in height and in older books or manuscripts. In some cases a name or title can be long so the initials would shorten them.

Examples include: JFK, FDR, AOC, TDK, NYC, USA, KUWTK, EU, etc.

Related pages
 Abbreviation

Other websites

 Typolis.de
 Types of illuminated initials in the Glossary of Medieval Art and Architecture
 Ornamento  Ornamento contains close to a quarter of a million ornate letters, ornaments, borders, musical notation, diagrams, and illustrations drawn from Iberian print before 1701.
 Initials and Ornaments by Book Historian on Flickr.com
 Alphabets & Letters at Reusableart.com

Category:Typography