C

C (n: si)

The third letter of the Latin-based script.

The eighteenth letter of the Cyrillic-based script; Es.

A medieval form of the Greek Sigma, called lunate Sigma.

call-out (n: kOl AVt)

A bit of a text that has been used elsewhere as a visually intriguing introduction to the main text, used in editorial magazine pages to relieve the solid mass of a text.

capital (n: 'k& pi t@l)

The large letters of the Latin, Greek, Cyrillic and Armenian bi-cameral scripts, used for proper names of people and places, and for sentence starts. Cf. Majuscule.

cap height (n: k&p hait)

The distance that capital letters reach from the baseline; often slightly shorter than the lowercase ascender distance.

case (n: kes)

The state of a bicameral letter, such that it is either capital or lowercase; majuscule or minuscule.

chamfer (n: tS&m f@r)

A short diagonal that cuts off a corner of a rectangular part. I reducetion, the effect is that the corner is softer than if it were left as a simple angle.

character (n: 'k& r&k t@r)

The abstract concept of a letter as opposed to a particular representation of it. Characters can have many different representations, called glyphs, which all represent the same character.

chase (n: tSes)

A sturdy metal frame into which a page of type is locked using furniture and quoins; the chase is then locked into the press for inking and printing.

color (n: 'kV l@r)

Of a type page, the amount of black on white, such that the overall impression, from a distance or when de-focused, is gray. Even color is a usually desirable color that is distributed over the page without dark or light spots, such as when one letter is too dark or tightly drawn.

composing stick (n: k@m 'po zIN stIk)

The metal tray, having three sides walls, one adjustable, into which hand-set type sorts are placed one-by-one to build up a text. Type is placed upside-down with the head of the letters at the long wall of the stick and succesive rows of type are added until the stick is nearly filled, at whicc time the type is transferred to a composing stone.

composing stone (n: k@m 'po zIN ston)

A flat stone or metal sheet where separate blocks of type are brought together to build a page of type for printing. The blocks are then locked into a chase for use on the press.

compressed (adj: k@m prEst)

Of a typeface, one that is narrower than the compressed version of the basic design.

condensed (adj: c@n 'dEnst)

Of a typeface, one that is narrower than the basic design. Drawn condensed typefaces are tuned to avoid the distortion of stems and curves that occurs if a typeface is mechanically condensed.

contrast (n: 'kan tr&st)

The difference of darkness and lightness of an image on paper or screen.

Of a letter, the difference in thickness of the horizontal and vertical parts, usually thinner horizontally.

counter (n: 'kaun t@r)

An enclosed or partly enclosed space inside or surrounding a letter, as the interior of O or the area around the outside of O. Cf. Bowl.

The interior part of a letter that is not a stroke; the negative space of the letter.

CSS (n: si Es Es)

Initialism for Cascading Style Sheets, the Web standard for making stylistic suggestions for screen, print, and other devices' rendering of information.

cup (n: kVp)

A slight flexion on a serif that raises or lowers the center of the serif away from the horizontal and towards the center of the letter, inducing a subtle horizontal curvature to the end of a letter stroke.

Cyrillic (adj: s@ 'rIl ik)

The alphabet of the Slavic languages of Russia, Ukraine, Skopjean Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc. that was based on Greek forms and earlier Glagolitic forms by its traditional inventor, St Cyril.