typeset
Americanverb (used with object)
adjective
verb
Etymology
Origin of typeset
First recorded in 1865–70; back formation from typesetter
Explanation
To typeset is to arrange pieces of type, each one representing a letter or symbol, in preparation for printing. Before mechanical printing was developed (and after that, computer-based printing), almost all printed materials had to be typeset by hand. Typesetters would arrange each individual piece of type, composing an entire page before inking and printing on paper. Today, items that are printed by hand (like letterpress cards and books) still have to be typeset, but in most of the printing world, this kind of work is obsolete.
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.
See Examples For:
This was before computers were widely available, so Ng’s staffers had to typeset the Chinese characters manually, using a bulky machine imported from Taiwan.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2023
The royal blog also noted the card’s black border, a typeset feature they said signified "mourning" and is an "old Victorian-era tradition."
From Fox News ● Aug. 18, 2021
Long books may be packed tightly into single-volume paperbacks, but they are best read when designed and typeset with plenty of space, good margins, good type size, and elegant layout.
From The Verge ● Apr. 22, 2020
Taylor worked as a journeyman printer at the Government Printing Office — he typeset the Warren Commission Report — before earning a doctorate in education.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2019
It would take me all morning to copy the text into the machine, which would cast typeset blocks from each line.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Decades afterward, now the most famous writer in America, Twain remained so convinced that mechanized typesetting could revolutionize the industry that he lost a fortune investing in one fatally flawed invention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
A leader in this field is Sustainable Typesetting, a project of the design and typesetting company 2K/DENMARK.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2024
A self-taught newspaper Linotype operator who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico City, Luis Ocon’s purchase of Aardvark Typographers from his former boss Ken Matson coincided with the early adoption of computerized typesetting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2024
Ng and her crew, many of them friends from UW, had to master the publishing business, along with the intricacies of a manual Chinese typesetting machine imported from Taiwan.
From Seattle Times ● May 29, 2024
He had coasted along for years now, filling the pages of his newspaper with words, burying himself in whatever was safe, typesetting the ferry schedule and the tide table and the classified advertisements.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
