serif

especially British, cer·iph

[ser-if]

noun

Printing.

1. a smaller line used to finish off a main stroke of a letter, as at the top and bottom of M.

serif

/ ˈsɛrɪf /

noun

1. printing a small line at the extremities of a main stroke in a type character

Word History and Origins

Origin of serif¹

1835–45; perhaps < Dutch schreef line (in writing), akin to schrijven to write

Word History and Origins

Origin of serif¹

C19: perhaps from Dutch schreef dash, probably of Germanic origin, compare Old High German screvōn to engrave

Example Sentences

Around 2018 when a raft of fashion houses joined everyone else in ditching their serif logos for wingless alternatives, something flipped.

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Its name is a pun on the sans serif group of typefaces, and the island was depicted as being shaped like a semi-colon.

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Frosted windows on doors with the old-school gold sans serif font long used by county departments.

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This time she wrote her messages in a childlike sans serif that a designer friend of the artist later turned into a custom font, for more efficient printing.

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With its straight hairline serifs and high degree of contrast between thick and thin strokes, Bodoni has an elegant literary appearance.

Read more on New York Times