What does "font" mean?
A receptacle in a church for holy water, especially one used in baptism.
Font
/fɒnt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A receptacle in a church for holy water, especially one used in baptism.
- Grammar: font is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: fount, typeface, affusion, ascender.
- Useful contrasts: end, handwriting.
- Usage evidence: In the font business you must never trust anybody!
How to use "font"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "font" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "font" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "font" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "font" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "font" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "fount" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "font", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A receptacle in a church for holy water, especially one used in baptism.
"She dipped her fingers in the font and crossed herself."
- 2 A set of glyphs of unified design, belonging to one typeface (e.g., Helvetica), style (e.g., italic), and weight (e.g., bold). Usually representing the letters of an alphabet and its supplementary characters.; In metal typesetting, a set of type sorts in one size.
- 3 A source, wellspring, fount. figuratively
"1824 — George Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan, canto V A gaudy taste; for they are little skill'd in The arts of which these lands were once the font"
- 4 bowl for baptismal water wordnet
- 5 A receptacle for lamp oil in a lamp.
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A set of glyphs of unified design, belonging to one typeface (e.g., Helvetica), style (e.g., italic), and weight (e.g., bold). Usually representing the letters of an alphabet and its supplementary characters.; In phototypesetting, a set of patterns forming glyphs of any size, or the film they are stored on.
- 7 a specific size and style of type within a type family wordnet
- 8 A set of glyphs of unified design, belonging to one typeface (e.g., Helvetica), style (e.g., italic), and weight (e.g., bold). Usually representing the letters of an alphabet and its supplementary characters.; In digital typesetting, a set of glyphs in a single style, representing one or more alphabets or writing systems, or the computer code representing it.
- 9 A typeface. informal
- 10 A computer file containing the code used to draw and compose the glyphs of one or more typographic fonts on a computer display or printer. metonymically
"They bought a license for the Gulliver font and installed that font on several machines."
- 11 The design of any text. informal
"I like the font of this logo."
Verb
- 1 To overlay (text) on the picture. informal, transitive
"When figures or quotes are thought helpful to understanding a spot, they're "fonted" over the cover picture."
Proper Noun
- 1 # Clipping of Fontainebleau: a town near Paris, in Seine-et-Marne department, Île-de-France, France. informal
- 2 A surname
Antonyms
Example
"In the font business you must never trust anybody!"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "font"?
Common synonyms include: fount, typeface, affusion, ascender, aspergation, aspersion.
How do you use "font" in a sentence?
In the font business you must never trust anybody!
How do you pronounce "font"?
Pronounced /fɒnt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Old English font, an early borrowing from Latin fōns, fontis (“fountain”).
Etymology 2
From Middle French fonte (“act or process of founding or melting; act of producing items from molten metal; cast iron; set of type”) (modern French fonte), either: * from fondre (“to melt, melt down; to smelt”), from Old French fondre, from Latin fundere, the present active infinitive of fundō (“to pour out; to make by smelting, found”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰewd- (“to pour”); or * from Late Latin *fundita, a noun use of funditus, a perfect passive participle form of Latin fundō (see above; the classical Latin form is fūsus).
Etymology 3
Apparently from fount, with influence from the senses above (under etymology 1).
Etymology 4
Clipping of Fontainebleau.
Etymology 5
* As a southern French and Catalan surname, from font (“spring, well”). * As an English surname, variant of Fant.