font

1 of 2

noun (1)

1
a
: a receptacle for baptismal water
b
: a receptacle for holy water
c
: a receptacle for various liquids
2
: source, fountain
a font of information
fontal adjective

font

2 of 2

noun (2)

: an assortment or set of type or characters all of one style and sometimes one size

Examples of font in a Sentence

Noun (1) a domestic diva who is a seemingly endless font of new ideas
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
Fewer than 40 of the jerseys were made and about half will be available on the Fanatics app, all individually numbered with patches embroidered onto the jerseys in team fonts. Jean E. Palmieri, WWD, 13 Mar. 2025 Ensure your document is well-structured, with clear section headings, consistent font choices, and balanced spacing. Andrew Fennell, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025 The keyboard includes Shift keys, a Shift Lock key, a key for modifying characters with accents and other diacritical marks, and buttons to change the font, font size, and font type (bold, outline, italic, and more). PCMAG, 12 Mar. 2025 Marketing managers spend hours building ads, writing copy, designing webpages and fine-tuning promotions by hand—often their real creative work, building the message, is buried in hours of work executing graphics, fonts and images. Matt Robison, Newsweek, 25 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for font

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin font-, fons, from Latin, fountain

Noun (2)

French fonte, from Middle French, act of founding, from Vulgar Latin *fundita, feminine of funditus, past participle of Latin fundere to found, pour — more at found

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun (2)

circa 1688, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of font was before the 12th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Font.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/font. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

font

1 of 2 noun
1
: a basin for baptismal or holy water
2

font

2 of 2 noun
: an assortment of type or characters all of one size and style
Etymology

Noun

Old English font "basin for holy water," derived from Latin font-, fons "fountain, spring" — related to fountain

Noun

from early French fonte "act of casting metal," derived from Latin fundere "to pour melted metal into a mold" — related to found entry 3, founder entry 2

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