italic

[ ih-tal-ik, ahy-tal- ]
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adjective
  1. designating or pertaining to a style of printing types in which the letters usually slope to the right, patterned upon a compact manuscript hand, and used for emphasis, to separate different kinds of information, etc.: These words are in italic type.

  2. (initial capital letter) of or relating to Italy, especially ancient Italy or its tribes.

noun
  1. Often italics. italic type.

  2. (initial capital letter) a branch of the Indo-European family of languages, including ancient Latin, Oscan, Umbrian, and modern Romance.

Origin of italic

1
1555–65; <Latin Italicus<Greek Italikós, equivalent to Ital(ía) Italy + -ikos-ic

Other words from italic

  • non-I·tal·ic, adjective, noun

Words Nearby italic

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How to use italic in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for italic (1 of 2)

italic

/ (ɪˈtælɪk) /


adjective
  1. Also: Italian of, relating to, or denoting a style of handwriting with the letters slanting to the right

noun
  1. a style of printing type modelled on this, chiefly used to indicate emphasis, a foreign word, etc: Compare roman 1

  2. (often plural) italic type or print

Origin of italic

1
C16 (after an edition of Virgil (1501) printed in Venice and dedicated to Italy): from Latin Italicus of Italy, from Greek Italikos

British Dictionary definitions for Italic (2 of 2)

Italic

/ (ɪˈtælɪk) /


noun
  1. a branch of the Indo-European family of languages that includes many of the ancient languages of Italy, such as Venetic and the Osco-Umbrian group, Latin, which displaced them, and the Romance languages

adjective
  1. denoting, relating to, or belonging to this group of languages, esp the extinct ones

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