A

Alignment

extend. ragged text
Alignment is the term used to describe which side of the column a block of body text is resting against. For example, left aligned text is the normal alignment of text in most documents. Right aligned and centred text is generally used for pull-quotes and other short blocks of copy.

See also: Ragged text, Pull-quotes

Ampersand

An ampersand = &.

Antiqua

extend. Ancient, Old Style, Venetian, Garalde, Baroque
Rounder, more stylised faces of the alphabet. Developed during the Renaissance, but based on ancient Roman typefaces.

Apex

The apex of a font character is the join of two strokes at the highest point of the letter - for example the tip of the capital letter 'A'.

Arabic numerals

Arabic numerals are simply the normal numerical characters that are used. For example 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on.

See also: Roman numerals

Arm

In font terminology, the arm of a letter is a short stroke that is free at one or both ends.

Ascender

extend. ascender line
The part of certain lowercase letter-forms which extend above the x-height. The ascender line is the hypothetical guideline for the top of the ascenders in a line of text.

See also: x-height