italic

See also Italic

English

Wikipedia

A true italic font (bottom).

Alternative forms

• italick

Adjective

italic (not comparable)

1. (typography, of a typeface or font) Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
2. (typography, of a typeface or font) Having letters that slant or lean to the right; oblique.

   The text was impossible to read: every other word was underlined or in a bold or italic font.

Usage notes

An oblique "italic" font.

• The sense of “oblique” is more recent, and still sometimes criticized, but is now by far the more common sense in everyday use.

Synonyms

• cursive
• oblique

Antonyms

• (oblique): upright

Derived terms

• italicize
• italics

Related terms

• roman
• boldface

Translations

having a slant to the right

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斜體的 (cmn), 斜体的 (cmn) (xiétǐ de)

• Dutch: cursief (nl)
• Finnish: kursiivi (fi), kursiivinen (fi)
• French: italique (fr)
• German: kursiv (de)
• Greek: πλαγιος (el) (plágios)

• Italian: corsivo (it) m, corsiva (it) f
• Japanese: 斜体の (ja) (しゃたいの, shatai no)
• Russian: курсивный (ru) (kursívnyj), наклонный (ru) (naklónnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: clò eadailteach (gd)
• Spanish: cursivo (es)
• Swedish: kursiv (sv)

Noun

italic (plural italics)

Calligraphy in italic.

1. (typography) A typeface in which the letters slant to the right.
   • 1902, Theodore Low DeVinne, The Practice of Typography: Correct Composition^[1], page 104:

     Names of vessels, as the Kearsarge or the Alabama, are frequently put in italic.

   • 1983, Ida M. Kimber, The Art of Lettering^[2], translation of original by Albert Kapr, page 329:

     […] ROBERT GRANJON, possibly in collaboration with CLAUDE GARAMOND, had created an italic which matched Garamond Roman.

2. An oblique handwriting style, such as used by Italian calligraphers of the Renaissance.
   • 1990, Albert Charles Hamilton, The Spenser Encyclopedia^[3], ISBN 0802079237, page 345:

     Spenser uses two different scripts: an Elizabethan secretary hand for English texts, and an italic 'mixed' with secretary graphs for Latin texts […]

Translations

typeface whose letters slant to the right

• Catalan: cursiva (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斜體 (cmn), 斜体 (cmn) (xiétǐ)

• Faroese: skákskrift (fo) f, skráskrift (fo) f
• Finnish: kursiivi (fi)
• German: Kursivdruck (de) m

• Greek: ‎πλάγιος χαρακτήρας (plágios charaktíras) m 
• Japanese: 斜体 (ja) (しゃたい, shatai)
• Russian: курсив (ru) (kursív) m
• Scottish Gaelic: clò eadailteach (gd) m
• Spanish: cursiva (es) f, itálica (es) f, letra bastardilla (es) f
• Swedish: kursiv (sv) c

See also

• Italian
• Italic
• italical