Word.ws English Dictionary

serif

/ˈsɛɹɪf/

serif noun: a short line added to the end of a stroke in traditional typefaces, such as Times New Roman.

Noun

serif (plural serifs)

  1. A short line added to the end of a stroke in traditional typefaces, such as Times New Roman.
    • It is generally believed, by those who study such things, that serif typefaces are easier to read when reading a lot of words. The hickeys (serifs) on each letter tend to push our eye toward the next letter.2018, Paul W. Ross, Revival: The Handbook of Software for Engineers and Scientists

Adjective

serif (not comparable)

  1. Of a typeface, provided with serifs.
    • It is generally believed, by those who study such things, that serif typefaces are easier to read when reading a lot of words. The hickeys (serifs) on each letter tend to push our eye toward the next letter.2018, Paul W. Ross, Revival: The Handbook of Software for Engineers and Scientists
    Antonyms:
    sans serif

serif meaning in Arabic

serif in Arabic

short line in a font
مذيل muḏayaail, سيرف sīrif

Antonyms of serif

Forms of serif

pluralserifs

Plural of serif: serifs

Origin of serif

From earlier ceriph, seriph, surryph, of obscure derivation. There are two (not directly interrelated) candidates for a possible Dutch origin: 1.) the noun schreef (“stroke”, now also “serif” as a semantic loan), related with schrapen (“to scrape”); and 2.) the verb schrafferen (“to provide with horizontal lines, to shade”), from Italian sgraffiare. For the latter, compare German Schraffe (“serif”), although this again may be a semantic loan based on the English word rather than original to it. Alternatively, from Late Latin cerificus (“waxen”), from Latin cera (“wax”), after the ruled lines used in writing on wax tablets.

Words formed from serif

Words that rhyme with serif

Questions about serif

What does serif mean?
Serif means a short line added to the end of a stroke in traditional typefaces, such as Times New Roman.
What is serif in Arabic?
Serif in Arabic is مذيل (muḏayaail), سيرف (sīrif). See Serif meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is serif?
Serif can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce serif?
Serif is pronounced /ˈsɛɹɪf/.
What is the plural of serif?
The plural of serif is serifs.

Words near serif in the dictionary

  1. series-wound
  2. serieses
  3. serieshelpmate
  4. seriesmate
  5. seriesmover
  6. serif
  7. serifed
  8. seriffed
  9. serifless
  10. Seriform
  11. serifs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: serif (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-serif.wav.

Cite this entry: “serif.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/serif. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.