 | Sans-serif font |
 | Serif font |
 | Serif font (serifs in red) |
Aserif is a term intypography. If aletter is made of aline or lines, a serif is a tiny decorative line on the ends of letter's 'limbs'. Thus, in theillustration on the right, each serif letter has a serif on the end of its lines. Alphabetictypefaces either have serifs or not. Those without are calledsans-serif.
The design of our typefaces started in the15th century, when the early printers used moulds from which letters made oflead were produced.[1]
However, the original source of the serif may be in monumental inscriptions. Serifs are on the letters at the base ofTrajan's column (built 107~113AD), and are clearly illustrated in standard textbooks on typography.[1] Indeed, older literature often describes typefaces with serifs asRoman. The wordserif seems to be an early19th century innovation.[2]