Point (typography) - Traditional Point-size Names

Traditional Point-size Names

Fonts originally consisted of a set of moveable type letterpunches purchased from a type foundry. The names for many of the historically popular fonts have become English language shorthand to refer to the corresponding point sizes usually available for letterpress printing:

  • 3 pt: Excelsior (US), Minikin (Brit.)
  • 4 pt: Brilliant
  • 4.5 pt: Diamond
  • 5 pt: Pearl
  • 5½ pt: Agate (US), Ruby (Brit.)
  • 6 pt: Nonpareille
  • 6½ pt: Minionette (US), Emerald (Brit.)
  • 7 pt: Minion
  • 8 pt: Brevier, Petit or small text
  • 9 pt: Bourgeois or Galliard
  • 10 pt: Long Primer, Corpus or Garamond (c.f. Garamond)
  • 11 pt: Small Pica or Philosophy
  • 12 pt: Pica
  • 14 pt: English, Mittel or Augustin
  • 16 pt: Columbian (US), Two-line Brevier (Brit.)
  • 18 pt: Great Primer
  • 20 pt: Paragon
  • 21 pt: Double Small Pica
  • 22 pt: Double Small Pica (US), Double Pica (Brit.)
  • 24 pt: Double Pica (US) Two-line Pica (Brit.)
  • 28 pt: Double English (US), Two-line English (Brit.)
  • 30 pt: Five-line Nonpareil (US)
  • 32 pt: Four-line Brevier (US)
  • 36 pt: Double Great Primer (US), Two-line Great Primer (Brit.)
  • 44 pt: Meridian (US), Two-line Double Pica (Brit.), or Trafalgar
  • 48 pt: Canon or four-line
  • 60 pt: Five-line Pica
  • 72 pt: inch

Note that the point size correspondences given here are approximate—often, especially for the smaller ones, the exact size of the original, physical font would vary from foundry to foundry and from country to country. For example, metal type sets that were called Agate are known to have ranged from 5 points up to 5.8 points. Note also that some of the sizes given are no longer considered part of the "traditional scale", such as 44 point type.

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