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Italic Very Common

Italic has 9 different meanings across 3 categories:

Noun · Adjective · Proper Noun

Definitions
Noun
1

a style of handwriting with the letters slanting to the right

"The calligraphy teacher praised his student for mastering the elegant italic style where every letter gracefully slants to the right."

2

a branch of the Indo-European languages of which Latin is the chief representative

"The linguistic debate centered on whether Italian belonged to the Italic group or represented a separate evolution within the broader Indo-European family."

3

a typeface with letters slanting upward to the right

"The editor requested that I write the title in italic so it would stand out on the page."

4

A typeface in which the letters slant to the right.

"The editor changed the bold heading into italic text so that the words would slant to the right."

In plain English: An italic is a style of writing where letters are slanted to look different from normal text.

"The professor emphasized his key points by writing them in italics."

Adjective
1

characterized by slanting characters

"italic characters"

2

of or relating to the Italic languages

"ancient Italic dialects"

3

Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.

"This italic font style was originally developed in Italy during the Renaissance."

4

Of or relating to the Italian peninsula.

In plain English: Italic means written with slanted letters instead of straight ones to make certain words stand out from normal text.

"The italic words in that old book stood out because they were slanted to show emphasis."

Usage: Use this adjective when describing text that is styled with a slanted or cursive appearance, distinct from standard upright fonts. It functions as both an attribute of specific words and a noun referring to the entire typographic style itself.

Proper Noun
1

An Italic language.

"The linguist was fascinated by the study of an italic language spoken in ancient Etruria."

Example Sentences
"The italic words in that old book stood out because they were slanted to show emphasis." adj
"The italic text in my essay stood out against the normal paragraphs." adj
"She found an italic note hidden inside her old textbook." adj
"The server displayed an italic error message that no one understood." adj
"The professor emphasized his key points by writing them in italics." noun
See Also
italics roman latino faliscan italian unitalicize handwriting indo european style
Related Terms
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
longhand Indo-European font
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
Osco-Umbrian Latin

Origin

The word italic comes from Italy because the distinctive typeface was first introduced there by the printer Aldo Manuzio around 1500. It entered English to describe this style of writing that originated in that nation.

Rhyming Words
ilic flic relic folic telic melic colic kilic holic malic hylic eolic dulic aulic xylic salic philic aholic exilic obelic
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