In
typography and
handwriting
Handwriting is the writing done with a writing instrument, such as a pen or pencil, in the hand. Handwriting includes both printing and cursive styles and is separate from formal calligraphy or typeface
A typeface (or font family) is ...
, a descender is the portion of a
letter that extends below the
baseline of a
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design.
In mod ...
.
For example, in the letter ''y'', the descender is the "tail", or that portion of the
diagonal line which lies below the ''v'' created by the two lines converging. In the letter ''p'', it is the stem reaching down past the ''o''.
In most fonts, descenders are reserved for
lowercase
Letter case is the distinction between the Letter (alphabet), letters that are in larger uppercase or capitals (or more formally ''majuscule'') and smaller lowercase (or more formally ''minuscule'') in the written representation of certain lang ...
characters such as ''g'', ''j'', ''q'', ''p'', ''y'', and sometimes ''f''. Some fonts, however, also use descenders for some
numerals (typically ''3'', ''4'', ''5'', ''7'', and ''9''). Such numerals are called
old-style numeral
Text figures (also known as non-lining, lowercase, old style, ranging, hanging, medieval, billing, or antique figures or numerals) are numerals designed with varying heights in a fashion that resembles a typical line of running text, hence the ...
s. (Some
italic fonts, such as
Computer Modern italic, put a descender on the numeral ''4'' but not on any other numerals. Such fonts are not considered old-style.) Some fonts also use descenders for the tails on a few uppercase letters such as ''J'' and ''Q''.
The parts of characters that extend above the
x-height of a font are called
ascenders.
Descenders are often reduced in small-print typefaces for uses such as newspapers, directories or pocket Bibles to fit more text on a page. More radically, on 20 May 1802 Philip Rusher of
Banbury patented a new
Patent Type with eliminated descenders and shortened ascenders.
The type did not prove successful, nor did another use in 1852.
The Art Nouveau
display typeface Hobo
A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; and a bum neither travels nor works.
E ...
and headline typeface
Permanent Headline
Permanent Headline is a bold, highly compressed sans-serif typeface in the neo-grotesque style. It was designed by Karlgeorg Hoefer for the type foundry Ludwig & Mayer in Frankfurt am Main. It was released from 1964 and later issued by a range of ...
which also eliminate descenders have both been somewhat popular since.
Some early computer displays (for example, the
Compukit UK101) and printers (for example, the Commodore 4022
) restricted the vertical spacing of characters so that there was no space for correct display of descenders. Instead, characters with descenders were displaced vertically upwards so that the bottom of the descender was aligned with the
baseline. Contemporary systems that did not have this restriction were described as supporting ''true descenders''.
References
External links
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{{Typography terms
Typography