kerning

English

Etymology

From kern (“part of a letter which extends into the space used by another letter”) +‎ -ing, from French carne (“corner”).

Pronunciation

(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɝnɪŋ/
(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɜːnɪŋ/
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)nɪŋ

Noun

kerning (countable and uncountable, plural kernings)

(typography) The adjustment of the horizontal space between selected pairs of glyphs in a typeface.

Usage notes

Kerning and tracking are sometimes confused; the latter refers to the uniform adjustment of letterspacing for a whole unit of text, while kerning relates to the spacing between two individual glyphs.

Related terms

tracking

Translations

adjustment of the horizontal space between selected pairs of glyphs

Catalan: interlletratge
Chinese:
Mandarin: 字偶距調節 / 字偶距调节 (zì'ǒujù tiáojié)
Dutch: overhang (nl)
Finnish: parivälistys, kirjainparivälistys, välistys (fi)
French: crénage (fr) m
German: Unterschneidung f
Hungarian: egalizálás, alávágás, betűköz-igazítás
Irish: coirneáil f
Italian: crenatura (it) f
Maori: whakatata pū
Portuguese: entreletra compensada f, compensação (pt) f, espaçamento entreletras compensado m, espacejamento entreletras compensado m, kerning m
Spanish: cranaje, interletraje, cran m

Verb

kerning

present participle and gerund of kern