Sans-serif font | |
Serif font | |
Serif font (red serifs) |
In typography, a serif (/ˈsɛrɪf/) is a small line or stroke regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or family of fonts. A typeface or "font family" making use of serifs is called a serif typeface (or serifed typeface), and a typeface that does not include them is sans-serif. Some typography sources refer to sans-serif typefaces as "grotesque" (in German, grotesk) or "Gothic"[1] (although this often refers to blackletter type as well) and serif typefaces as "roman" (or in German, Antiqua).
Serif typefaces can be broadly classified into one of four subgroups: § old style, § transitional, § Didone and § Slab Serif, in order of first appearance. Some Old-style typefaces can be classified further into one of two subgroups: § Antiqua and § Dutch Taste.