Traditional point-size names

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Fonts originally consisted of a set of moveable type letterpunches purchased from a type foundry. As early as 1600, the sizes of these types—their "bodies"^[1]—acquired traditional names in English, French, German, and Dutch, usually from their principal early uses.^[2] These names were used relative to the others and their exact length would vary over time, from country to country, and from foundry to foundry. For example, "agate" and "ruby" used to be a single size "agate ruby" of about 5 points;^[2] metal type known as "agate" later ranged from 5 to 5.8 points. The sizes were gradually standardized as described above.^[3] Modern Chinese typography uses the following names in general preference to stating the number of points. In ambiguous contexts, the word hào (t 號, s 号, lit. "number") is added to the end of the size name to clarify the meaning.

Note that the Chinese font sizes use American points; the Continental systems traditionally used the Fournier or Didot points. The Fournier points, being smaller than Didot's, were associated with the names of the Didot type closest in size rather than identical in number of points.^{[citation needed]}

Comparison table

More information Point, American system ...

Point	American system			Continental system				Chinese system^[4]
Point	Metric size	American^[5]	British^[1]	Metric size	French^[6]	German^[7]	Dutch	Character	Pinyin	Meaning
1	≈ 0.353 mm	American^[a]		≈ 0.376 mm		Achtelpetit	Achtste petit
⁠1+1/2⁠	≈ 0.529 mm	German		≈ 0.564 mm		Achtelcicero	Achtste cicero
2	≈ 0.706 mm	Saxon		≈ 0.752 mm		Non Plus Ultra^[9] Viertelpetit	Non plus ultra^[10] Vierde petit
⁠2+1/2⁠	≈ 0.882 mm	Norse		≈ 0.940 mm	Microscopique^[10]	Microscopique^[9]	Microscoop Microscopie
3	≈ 1.058 mm	Excelsior^[11]^[b]	Minikin^[11]	≈ 1.13 mm	Diamant	Brillant^[9] Viertelcicero	Kwart cicero
⁠3+1/2⁠	≈ 1.235 mm	Ruby Brilliant^[13]
4	≈ 1.411 mm	Brilliant		≈ 1.5 mm	Perle	Diamant Halbpetit^[9]	Robijn Diamant Halve petit
⁠4+1/4⁠	≈ 1.499 mm		Gem
⁠4+1/2⁠	≈ 1.588 mm	Diamond
5	≈ 1.764 mm	Pearl		≈ 1.88 mm	Parisienne Sédanoise	Perl	Parel Parisienne	八	Bā	"Eight"
⁠5+1/2⁠	≈ 1.940 mm	Agate	Ruby^[14]^[15]	≈ 2.068 mm				七	Qī	"Seven"
6	≈ 2.117 mm	Nonpareil		≈ 2.25 mm	Nonpareille	Nonpareille	Nonparel Nonpareil
⁠6+1/2⁠	≈ 2.293 mm	Minionette^[16]	Emerald^[16]	≈ 2.44 mm		Insertio	Insertio	小六	Xiǎoliù	"Little Six"
7	≈ 2.469 mm	Minion		≈ 2.65 mm	Mignonne	Kolonel	Kolonel Mignon
⁠7+1/2⁠	≈ 2.646 mm			≈ 2.8 mm	Petit-texte			六	Liù	"Six"
8	≈ 2.822 mm	Brevier		≈ 3.0 mm	Gaillarde Petit-texte^[13]	Petit Jungfer^[13]	Petit Brevier^[13]
9	≈ 3.175 mm	Bourgeois^[c]		≈ 3.38 mm	Petit-romain Gaillarde^[17]	Bourgeois Borgis^[18]	Borgis Burgeois^[17]	小五	Xiǎowǔ	"Little Five"
10	≈ 3.528 mm	Long Primer		≈ 3.75 mm	Philosophie	Korpus Garmond^[18]	Corpus Garmond^[19]
⁠10+1/2⁠	≈ 3.704 mm							五	Wǔ	"Five"
11	≈ 3.881 mm	Small Pica		≈ 4.15 mm	Cicéro	Rheinländer Discendian^[18]	Mediaan Rheinländer
12	≈ 4.233 mm	Pica		≈ 4.5 mm	St.-Augustin	Cicero	Cicero Augustijn	小四	Xiǎosì	"Little Four"
14	≈ 4.939 mm	English		≈ 5.25 mm	Gros-texte^[d]	Mittel	Grote cicero Grote augustijn Mediaan^[20]	四	Sì	"Four"
15	≈ 5.292 mm			≈ 5.64 mm	Gros-texte^[d]			小三	Xiǎosān	"Little Three"
16	≈ 5.644 mm	Columbian Exchange		≈ 6.0 mm	Gros-texte^[d]	Tertia	Tertia	三	Sān	"Three"
18	≈ 6.350 mm	Great Primer		≈ 6.75 mm	Gros-romain	⁠1+1/2⁠ Cicero	Paragon Tekst^[21]	小二	Xiǎoèr	"Little Two"
20	≈ 7.056 mm	Paragon^[2]^[5]		≈ 7.5 mm	Petit-parangon	Text Secunda^[9]
22	≈ 7.761 mm	Double Small Pica^[2]^[5]		≈ 8.27 mm	Gros-parangon			二	Èr	"Two"
24	≈ 8.467 mm	Double Pica		≈ 9.0 mm	Palestine	Doppelcicero	Dubbele cicero Palestine	小一	Xiǎoyī	"Little One"
26	≈ 9.172 mm							一	Yī	"One"
28	≈ 9.878 mm	Double English		≈ 10.5 mm	Petit-canon	Doppelmittel	Dubbele mediaan
30	≈ 10.583 mm	Five-line Nonpareil		≈ 11.3 mm
32	≈ 11.289 mm	Double Columbian		≈ 12.0 mm		Kleine Kanon Doppeltertia^[22]	Dubbele tertia
36	12.7 mm	Double Great Primer		≈ 13.5 mm	Trismégiste	Kanon Canon^[9]	Kanon	小初	Xiǎochū	"Little Initial"
40	≈ 14.111 mm	Double Paragon		≈ 15.0 mm		Doppeltext^[23] Große Kanon^[e]
42	≈ 14.817 mm	Seven-line Nonpareil		≈ 15.8 mm		Große Kanon^[e]	Grote Kanon	初	Chū	"Initial"
44	≈ 15.522 mm	Canon		≈ 16.5 mm	Gros-canon^[f]	Missal^[24]	Parijs Romein^[25]
48	≈ 16.933 mm	Four-line Pica French canon	Canon	≈ 18.0 mm	Gros-canon^[f]	Kleine Missal	Konkordanz Kleine missaal
54	≈ 19.050 mm			≈ 20.3 mm		Missal	Missaal
56	≈ 19.756 mm			≈ 21.1 mm	Double-canon
60	≈ 21.167 mm	Five-line pica		≈ 22.5 mm		Große Missal	Sabon
66	≈ 23.283 mm			≈ 24.8 mm		Große Sabon^[9]	Grote sabon
72	25.4 mm	Six-line pica Inch		≈ 27.1 mm	Double-trismégiste	Sabon Sechscicero^[9] Kleine Sabon^[23]	6 cicero
84	≈ 29.633 mm	Seven-line pica		≈ 31.5 mm		Siebencicero^[9] Große Sabon^[23]	7 cicero
88	≈ 31.044 mm			≈ 33 mm	Triple-canon
96	≈ 33.867 mm	Eight-line pica		≈ 36 mm	Grosse-nonpareille	Achtcicero^[9] Real^[23]	8 cicero
100	≈ 35.278 mm			≈ 37.5 mm	Moyenne de fonte
108	38.1 mm	Nine-line pica		≈ 40.5 mm		Imperial^[23]	9 cicero

Notes

[a]
The existence of such small bodies was only notional in the age of metal type.^[8]
[b]
Note that the American name for 3-point type was initially "Brilliant"^[5] and the English name was initially "Excelsior".^[2] The American "Excelsior", meanwhile, was originally 4-point type.^[5]^[12] The situation subsequently changed.
[c]
Pronounced "burjoyce".^[17]
[d]
The French gros-texte referred indifferently to type sizes between 14 and 16 points.^[6]
[e]
The German Große Kanon referred indifferently to 40- or 42-point type.
[f]
The French gros-canon referred indifferently to type sizes of 44 or 48 points.^[6]

References

[1]
Southward, John (1888), "Typography", Encyclopædia Britannica, Vol. XXIII (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 698.
[2]
Romano, Frank (Summer 2009). "The History of the Typographic Point" (PDF). APHA Newsletter (171): 3–4.
[3]
"Type", Sizes.com, Santa Monica: Sizes Inc., 2004.
[4]
Xue, Fuqiao; Ishida, Richard, eds. (2025), "7.1.1.5.2", Requirements for Chinese Text Layout, W3C
[5]
Pasko, Wesley Washington, ed. (1894), American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking, Containing a History of These Arts in Europe and America, with Definitions of Technical Terms and Biographical Sketches, New York: Howard Lockwood & Co., p. 522.
[6]
Pasko (1894), p. 215.
[7]
Bauer, Friedrich (1929), Die Normung der Buchdrucklettern: Schrifthöhe, Schriftkegel, und Schriftlinie in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwichlung, Leipzig: Deutscher Buchgewerbeverein, p. 64. (in German)
[8]
Pasko (1894), p. 18.
[9]
Bauer (1934).
[10]
De Vinne, Theodore Low (1900), The Practice of Typography: A Treatise on the Processes of Type-Making, the Point System, the Names, Sizes, Styles, and Prices of Plain Printing Types, New York: The Century Co., p. 68.
[11]
"minikin, n.¹ and adj.¹", Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[12]
"excelsior, n."'", Oxford English Dictionary (1st ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1894.
[13]
Pasko (1894), p. 70.
[14]
"ruby, n.¹", Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011
[15]
Pasko (1894), p. 11.
[16]
"minionette, n.", Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[17]
Pasko (1894), p. 65.
[18]
Pasko (1894), p. 229.
[19]
Reed, Talbot Baines (1887). A History of the Old English Letter-Foundries. London. pp. 38–39.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
[20]
Pasko (1894), p. 172.
[21]
Pasko (1894), p. 238.
[22]
von Bauer, Friedrich (1934), Handbuch für Schriftsetzer, Frankfurt: Verlag von Klimsch & Co.. (in German)
[23]
Fromm, Helmut (1980). Rechenbuch für die Druckindustrie (in German) (14th ed.). Itzehoe: Verlag Beruf und Schule. ISBN 3-88013-155-4. Mentioned in "Type size names (German style)". briarpress.org.
[24]
Pasko (1894), p. 79.
[25]
Pasko (1894), p. 213.

Traditional point-size names

Comparison table

See also

Notes

References

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