Blackletter

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A style of writing characterized by ornate, angular letters used historically in medieval manuscripts ; a typeface designed to imitate this elaborate medieval handwriting style
2. An old-fashioned script style with dense, dark, and sharply angled characters typical of medieval texts ; a font that mimics the Gothic manuscript handwriting popular in Europe before the Renaissance
3. A form of calligraphy featuring thick, black strokes and pointed edges, traditionally used in early printed books ; a font style reflecting this traditional black, dense lettering seen in classic printed documents

Etymology: "Blackletter" is simply a variant spelling of "black letter," so the history concerns the phrase as a whole. The "black" refers to the dense, heavy strokes of the script, which make the page look dark compared with the lighter roman type that eventually displaced it. The "letter" in this sense means a character of the alphabet, a usage that goes back to the Latin "littera." The script itself is a late medieval hand, developed in Western Europe and used for manuscripts and then early printed books, most famously in Gutenberg-era Germany. Its angular, compressed letterforms were tightly packed and visually dark, which is why printers and scribes distinguished it from rounder styles. Over time the term came to describe any heavy, angular gothic type, and the name itself became a standard label in printing and typography.

Synonyms: Gothic script, Old English