typography
Americannoun
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the art or process of printing with type.
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the work of setting and arranging types and of printing from them.
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the general character or appearance of printed matter.
noun
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the art, craft, or process of composing type and printing from it
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the selection and planning of type for printed publications
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of typography
1635–45; < New Latin typographia, equivalent to Greek týpo ( s ) type + graphía -graphy
Explanation
Use the noun typography to describe the art of putting words into print. You might admire the typography of a concert poster that uses an elegant font, for example. When typography began, the process involved choosing the letters, arranging them, and printing with a press on paper. Today, almost anyone can practice typography by using a computer to design and print flyers, magazines, posters, and more. Don't confuse typography with its near-homonym, topography, which is a branch of Earth science. You'll recognize typography by the Greek typos, which means "dent or impression."
Vocabulary lists containing typography
Journalism Jargon
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"Stanford University Commencement Address" by Steve Jobs
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Unit 4, Whole-Class Learning
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Typography, McCulloch writes, does not simply conjure the author’s mood.
From The New Yorker • Jul. 26, 2019
Typography is hand-drawn in ink, scanned and placed on top.
From The Guardian • Apr. 13, 2019
Price: ~$999 Amazon Microsoft 365 Studio Hinrichs Typography Calendar Design appreciators will love working their way through the year with 12 lively fonts that bring different energy to each month.
From The Verge • Nov. 5, 2018
He began to see hand-drawn sound effects and the other details he was laboring over as “a new artistic puzzle that I could delve into. Typography started becoming something more integrated into my life.”
From Slate • Sep. 24, 2017
He had an ambition, which the results of his labour fully justified, to be regarded as an authority on Typography.
From Kilgorman A Story of Ireland in 1798 by Reed, Talbot Baines
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
