Typophile

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Someone with a deep fascination for type design, lettering and the visual craft of printed letters
2. A person who enthusiastically collects, studies and admires fonts and the art of typography
3. One who takes great delight in the shapes, styles and arrangement of printed characters

Etymology: Typophile is a compound of "type", "-o-", and "-phile", where "-phile" comes from the Greek "philos", meaning "loving" or "fond of". Put together, the word describes someone who loves typefaces and typography, the art of arranging printed letters. The word belongs to a family of modern coinages built on the same Greek suffix, such as "bibliophile" (a lover of books) and "audiophile" (a lover of high-fidelity sound). The "-o-" in the middle is a linking vowel, a device common in scientific and descriptive compounds that joins two elements without adding meaning of its own. The "type" part refers to the metal or wooden blocks, each bearing a raised letter, that printers once set by hand to make pages. Over time the term has come to cover anyone who takes an enthusiastic interest in the look and craft of fonts, from designers to hobbyists.