See Also

Glyph

In typography Typography

Typography is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type [i] using a co ... 

, a glyph is the shape given in a particular typeface Typeface

In typography [i], a typeface consists of a coordinated set [i] of glyph [i]s designed with stylistic un ... 

 to a specific grapheme or symbol Symbol

A symbol, in its basic sense, is a conventional representation of a concept [i]; i.e., an idea [i], object [i] ... 

. The term for the abstract entity represented by a glyph is character: a typographical character may be a grapheme , but also a numeral, a punctuation mark, or a pictorial or decorative symbol . Two or more glyphs representing the same grapheme, either interchangeably or context-dependent, are called allographs. In graphonomics, the term glyph is used for a non-character, i.e: either a sub-character or multi-character pattern.

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In typography Typography

Typography is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type [i] using a co ... 

, a glyph is the shape given in a particular typeface Typeface

In typography [i], a typeface consists of a coordinated set [i] of glyph [i]s designed with stylistic un ... 

 to a specific grapheme or symbol Symbol

A symbol, in its basic sense, is a conventional representation of a concept [i]; i.e., an idea [i], object [i] ... 

.

The term for the abstract entity represented by a glyph is character: a typographical character may be a grapheme , but also a numeral, a punctuation mark, or a pictorial or decorative symbol .

Two or more glyphs representing the same grapheme, either interchangeably or context-dependent, are called allographs.

In graphonomics, the term glyph is used for a non-character, i.e: either a sub-character or multi-character pattern.

Etymology

The term has been used in English since 1727, loaned from glyphe in use by French antiquaries , from Greek ???f? "a carving," from ???fe?? "to hollow out, engrave, carve"

Compare the carved and incised "sacred glyphs" hieroglyph Egyptian hieroglyphs

are a writing system [i] used by the Ancient Egypt [i]ians, that contained a combination of logograph [i] ... 

s, which have had a longer history in English dating from the first Elizabethan translation of Plutarch, who adopted "hieroglyphic" as a Latin adjective.

But "glyph" first came to widespread European attention with the engravings and lithographs from Frederick Catherwood Frederick Catherwood

Frederick Catherwood was an English [i] artist [i] and architect [i], best remembered for his ex ... 

's drawings of undeciphered glyphs of the Maya civilization in the early 1840s.

Typography

In typography Typography

Typography is the art and technique of setting written subject matter in type [i] using a co ... 

, a glyph a particular graphical representation of a grapheme, or sometimes several graphemes in combination , or only a part of a grapheme. In computing as well as typography, the term character refers to a grapheme or grapheme-like unit of text, as found in natural language writing system Writing system

A writing system is a type of symbol [i]ic system used to represent elements or statements expressible i ... 

s . A character or grapheme is a unit of text, whereas a glyph is a graphical Graphics

Graphics are visual [i] presentations on some surface such as a wall, canvas [i], computer screen, paper ... 

 unit.

For example, the sequence ffi contains three characters, but can be represented by one glyph, the three characters being combined into a single unit known as a ligature.
Conversely, some typewriter Typewriter

A typewriter is a mechanical [i], electromechanical [i], or electronic [i] device wi ... 

s require the use of multiple glyphs to depict a single character .

Most typographic glyphs originate from the characters of a typeface Typeface

In typography [i], a typeface consists of a coordinated set [i] of glyph [i]s designed with stylistic un ... 

. In a typeface each character typically corresponds to a single glyph, but there are exceptions, such as a font used for a language with a large alphabet or complex writing system, where one character may correspond to several glyphs, or several characters to one glyph.

See also

  • Typeface Typeface

    In typography [i], a typeface consists of a coordinated set [i] of glyph [i]s designed with stylistic un ... 

  • Punchcutting
  • Character encoding
  • Character