italic

Alternative forms

• italick

Etymology

Named after the nation of Italy, as it was first used by an Italian printer, Aldo Manuzio, around 1500. Literally Italy +‎ -ic.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ĭtălʹĭk, IPA^(key): /ɪˈtælɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ĭtălʹĭk, ītălʹĭk, IPA^(key): /ɪˈtælɪk/, /aɪˈtælɪk/

Adjective

italic (not comparable)

1. (typography, of a typeface or font) Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
2. (typography, of a typeface or font) Having letters that slant or lean to the right; oblique.

   The text was impossible to read: every other word was underlined or in a bold or italic font.

Usage notes

• The sense of “oblique” is more recent, and still sometimes criticized, but is now by far the more common sense in everyday use.

Noun

italic (plural italics)

1. (typography) A typeface in which the letters slant to the right.
   • 1902, Theodore Low DeVinne, The Practice of Typography: Correct Composition‎, page 104:

     Names of vessels, as the Kearsarge or the Alabama, are frequently put in italic.

   • 1983, Ida M. Kimber, The Art of Lettering‎, translation of original by Albert Kapr, page 329:

     […] ROBERT GRANJON, possibly in collaboration with CLAUDE GARAMOND, had created an italic which matched Garamond Roman.

2. An oblique handwriting style, such as used by Italian calligraphers of the Renaissance.
   • 1990, Albert Charles Hamilton, The Spenser Encyclopedia‎, →ISBN, page 345:

     Spenser uses two different scripts: an Elizabethan secretary hand for English texts, and an italic 'mixed' with secretary graphs for Latin texts […]

Related terms

• Italian
• Italic
• italical

Etymology

Borrowed from French italique, from Latin italicus. By surface analysis, Italia +‎ -ic.

Adjective

italic m or n (feminine singular italică, masculine plural italici, feminine and neuter plural italice)

1. italic
2. Italic