In
typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), ...
and
handwriting, a descender is the portion of a
letter
Letter, letters, or literature may refer to:
Characters typeface
* Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet.
* Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...
that extends below the
baseline of a
font.
For example, in the letter ''y'', the descender is the "tail", or that portion of the
diagonal
In geometry, a diagonal is a line segment joining two vertices of a polygon or polyhedron, when those vertices are not on the same edge. Informally, any sloping line is called diagonal. The word ''diagonal'' derives from the ancient Greek δΠ...
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 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 languages. The writing ...
characters such as ''g'', ''j'', ''q'', ''p'', ''y'', and sometimes ''f''. Some fonts, however, also use descenders for some
numerals
A numeral is a figure, symbol, or group of figures or symbols denoting a number. It may refer to:
* Numeral system used in mathematics
* Numeral (linguistics), a part of speech denoting numbers (e.g. ''one'' and ''first'' in English)
* Numerical d ...
(typically ''3'', ''4'', ''5'', ''7'', and ''9''). Such numerals are called
old-style numerals. (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
Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census.
Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshir ...
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
A display typeface is a typeface that is intended for use at large sizes for headings, rather than for extended passages of body text.
Display typefaces will often have more eccentric and variable designs than the simple, relatively restrained ...
Hobo and headline typeface
Permanent Headline which also eliminate descenders have both been somewhat popular since.
Some early computer displays (for example, the
Compukit UK101
The Compukit UK101 microcomputer (1979) is a kit clone of the Ohio Scientific Superboard II single-board computer, with a few enhancements for the UK market - notably replacing the 24×24 (add guardband kit to give 32×32) screen display with a ...
) 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
*
{{Typography terms
Typography