typography

American  

[tahy-pog-ruh-fee] / taɪˈpɒg rə fi /

noun

1. the art or process of printing with type.

2. the work of setting and arranging types and of printing from them.

3. the general character or appearance of printed matter.

---

typography British  

/ taɪˈpɒɡrəfɪ, ˌtaɪpəˈɡræfɪkəl /

noun

1. the art, craft, or process of composing type and printing from it

2. the selection and planning of type for printed publications

---

Other Word Forms

• typographical adjective
• typographically adverb

Etymology

Origin of typography

1635–45; < New Latin typographia, equivalent to Greek týpo ( s ) type + graphía -graphy

Example Sentences

The lime-green background and blurry typography on the cover of her sixth album, “Brat,” quickly became internet shorthand for the season’s pursuit of devil-may-care indulgence and personal adventure.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026

Letters are letters, but for designers and typography fans, they matter a lot.

From New York Times • Feb. 28, 2024

Bobby’s really into typography and when he wrote out the words “The Hundreds,” he liked the way the letters looked and how it all lined up.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 3, 2024

And those who want a more Instagrammable experience might opt for its Heritage Label version, with its evocative, old school typography.

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2023

“I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great,” he wrote.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove