font
English

Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /fɒnt/
- (General American) IPA(key): /fɑnt/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɒnt
Etymology 1
From Old English font, an early borrowing from Latin fōns, fontis (“fountain”).
Noun
font (plural fonts)
- (Christianity) A receptacle in a church for holy water, especially one used in baptism.
- Synonym: stoup
- Hyponym: baptismal font
- 1791, Christopher Smart, “Moderation”, in Hymns for the Amusement of Children:
- Blessed be God, that, at the font, / My sponsors bound me to the call / Of Christ in England to confront / The world, the flesh, the fiend and all.
- 1913, John Bertram Peterson, “Baptismal Font”, in Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2:
- In the Apostolic Age, as in Jewish times (John, iii, 23), baptism was administered without special fonts, at the seaside or in streams or pools of water (Acts, viii, 38); […]
- A receptacle for oil in a lamp.
Derived terms
Translations
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
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Etymology 2
Borrowed from Middle French fonte, feminine past participle of verb fondre (“to melt”).
Alternative forms
- fount (UK)
Noun
font (plural fonts)
- (typography) A set of glyphs of unified design, belonging to one typeface (e.g., Helvetica), style (e.g., italic), and weight (e.g., bold). Usually representing the letters of an alphabet and its supplementary characters.
- In metal typesetting, a set of type sorts in one size.
- In phototypesetting, a set of patterns forming glyphs of any size, or the film they are stored on.
- In digital typesetting, a set of glyphs in a single style, representing one or more alphabets or writing systems, or the computer code representing it.
- (computing, typography, informal) A typeface.
- (computing, typography) A computer file containing the code used to draw and compose the glyphs of one or more typographic fonts on a computer display or printer.
Derived terms
- bitmap font
- clip font
- color font
- font family
- font stack
- font suitcase
- outline font
- pi font
- printer font
- roman font
- screen font
- soundfont
- variable font
Descendants
- → Thai: ฟอนต์ (fɔ́n)
Translations
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Verb
font (third-person singular simple present fonts, present participle fonting, simple past and past participle fonted)
- (television, colloquial, transitive) To overlay (text) on the picture.
- 1981, William Safire, On language, page 78:
- When figures or quotes are thought helpful to understanding a spot, they're "fonted" over the cover picture.
- 1987, The Foundation Center, Promoting issues & ideas: a guide to public relations for nonprofit organizations, page 97:
- […] character generator instead of an easel card to create letters on camera or telephone numbers that can run across the TV screen. The process is called fonting.
References
- “font” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.
- Bringhurst, Robert (2002). The Elements of Typographic Style, version 2.5, pp 291–2. Vancouver, Hartley & Marks. →ISBN.
Etymology 3
Apparently from fount, with influence from the senses above (under etymology 1).
Noun
font (plural fonts)
- (figuratively) A source, wellspring, fount.
- 1824 — George Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan, canto V
- A gaudy taste; for they are little skill'd in
The arts of which these lands were once the font
- A gaudy taste; for they are little skill'd in
- 1910, Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, part II:
- As I am not drawing here on the font of imagination to refresh that of fact and experience, I do not suggest that the Tarot set the example of expressing Secret Doctrine in pictures and that it was followed by Hermetic writers; but it is noticeable that it is perhaps the earliest example of this art.
- 1915, Woodrow Wilson, Third State of the Union Address:
- I am interested to fix your attention on this prospect now because unless you take it within your view and permit the full significance of it to command your thought I cannot find the right light in which to set forth the particular matter that lies at the very font of my whole thought as I address you to-day.
- 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress:
- The Bible lays special stress on the fear of God as the font of wisdom.
- 1824 — George Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan, canto V
Derived terms
Translations
Further reading
font on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
holy water font on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
baptismal font on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Catalan
Noun
font f (plural fonts)
- fountain
- source (of water)
- source (origin)
- (journalism) source
- (typography) font
Synonyms
(fountain): fontana
Derived terms
Related terms
- fontaner
- fontaneria
- fontinyol
Further reading
- “font” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “font”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “font” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “font” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɔ̃/, (in liaison) /fɔ̃.t‿/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɔ̃
Friulian
Alternative forms
Related terms
Hungarian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈfont]
- Hyphenation: font
- Rhymes: -ont
Declension
Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | font | fontok |
accusative | fontot | fontokat |
dative | fontnak | fontoknak |
instrumental | fonttal | fontokkal |
causal-final | fontért | fontokért |
translative | fonttá | fontokká |
terminative | fontig | fontokig |
essive-formal | fontként | fontokként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | fontban | fontokban |
superessive | fonton | fontokon |
adessive | fontnál | fontoknál |
illative | fontba | fontokba |
sublative | fontra | fontokra |
allative | fonthoz | fontokhoz |
elative | fontból | fontokból |
delative | fontról | fontokról |
ablative | fonttól | fontoktól |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
fonté | fontoké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
fontéi | fontokéi |
Possessive forms of font | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | fontom | fontjaim |
2nd person sing. | fontod | fontjaid |
3rd person sing. | fontja | fontjai |
1st person plural | fontunk | fontjaink |
2nd person plural | fontotok | fontjaitok |
3rd person plural | fontjuk | fontjaik |
Derived terms
- fontol
- fontos
Etymology 2
Borrowed from English font, from Middle French fonte, feminine past participle of fondre (“to melt”), from Latin fundō (“I melt”).[1]
Noun
font (plural fontok)
- (typography) digital font (set of glyphs of unified design contained in a computer file)
Declension
Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | font | fontok |
accusative | fontot | fontokat |
dative | fontnak | fontoknak |
instrumental | fonttal | fontokkal |
causal-final | fontért | fontokért |
translative | fonttá | fontokká |
terminative | fontig | fontokig |
essive-formal | fontként | fontokként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | fontban | fontokban |
superessive | fonton | fontokon |
adessive | fontnál | fontoknál |
illative | fontba | fontokba |
sublative | fontra | fontokra |
allative | fonthoz | fontokhoz |
elative | fontból | fontokból |
delative | fontról | fontokról |
ablative | fonttól | fontoktól |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
fonté | fontoké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
fontéi | fontokéi |
Possessive forms of font | ||
---|---|---|
possessor | single possession | multiple possessions |
1st person sing. | fontom | fontjaim |
2nd person sing. | fontod | fontjaid |
3rd person sing. | fontja | fontjai |
1st person plural | fontunk | fontjaink |
2nd person plural | fontotok | fontjaitok |
3rd person plural | fontjuk | fontjaik |
Declension
Inflection (stem in -a-, back harmony) | ||
---|---|---|
singular | plural | |
nominative | font | fontak |
accusative | fontat | fontakat |
dative | fontnak | fontaknak |
instrumental | fonttal | fontakkal |
causal-final | fontért | fontakért |
translative | fonttá | fontakká |
terminative | fontig | fontakig |
essive-formal | fontként | fontakként |
essive-modal | — | — |
inessive | fontban | fontakban |
superessive | fonton | fontakon |
adessive | fontnál | fontaknál |
illative | fontba | fontakba |
sublative | fontra | fontakra |
allative | fonthoz | fontakhoz |
elative | fontból | fontakból |
delative | fontról | fontakról |
ablative | fonttól | fontaktól |
non-attributive possessive - singular |
fonté | fontaké |
non-attributive possessive - plural |
fontéi | fontakéi |
References
- Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Latin fons, via Old Norse fontr (sense 1), and French fonte, via English font (sense 2).
Noun
font m (definite singular fonten, indefinite plural fonter, definite plural fontene)
- a baptismal font
- (typography) font, or fount (UK)
References
- “font” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Latin fons, via Old Norse fontr (sense 1), and French fonte, via English font (sense 2).
Noun
font m (definite singular fonten, indefinite plural fontar, definite plural fontane)
- a baptismal font
- (typography) font, or fount (UK)
References
- “font” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Polish
Etymology
Borrowed from English font, from Middle French fonte, feminine past participle of verb fondre (“to melt”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fɔnt/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -ɔnt
- Syllabification: font
Noun
font m inan
Declension
Further reading
- font in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Romanian
Swedish
Usage notes
- The synonym teckensnitt is considered more correct.
Declension
Declension of font | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | font | fonten | fonter | fonterna |
Genitive | fonts | fontens | fonters | fonternas |