Style of printed lettering. Books, newspapers, and other printed matter display different styles of lettering; each style is named, common examples being Times and Baskerville. These different “families” of alphabets have been designed over the centuries since printing was first introduced to Europe in the 15th century, and each has distinguishing characteristics. See also typography.
A specific, named design of a set of printed characters, such as Helvetica Bold Oblique, that has a specified obliqueness (degree of slant) and stroke weight (thickness of line). A typeface is not the same as a font, which is a specific size of a specific typeface, such as 12-point Helvetica Bold Oblique. Nor is a typeface the same as a typeface family, which is a group of related typefaces, such as the Helvetica family including Helvetica, Helve­tica Bold, Helvetica Oblique, and Helvetica Bold Oblique. See also font.