italic
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italic¹
- /ɪˈtælɪk/ UK
- /ɪˈtælɪk/ US
- /aɪˈtælɪk/ US
Where it comes from
Named after the nation of Italy, as it was first used by an Italian printer, Aldo Manuzio, around 1500. Literally Italy + -ic.
adjective italick
- Designed to resemble a handwriting style developed in Italy in the 16th century.
- Having letters that slant or lean to the right; oblique. The text was impossible to read: every other word was underlined or in a bold or italic font.
noun italics · italick
- A typeface in which the letters slant to the right. Names of vessels, as the Kearsarge or the Alabama, are frequently put in italic.
- An oblique handwriting style, such as used by Italian calligraphers of the Renaissance. Spenser uses two different scripts: an Elizabethan secretary hand for English texts, and an italic 'mixed' with secretary graphs for Latin texts […]
Italic²
- /ɪˈtalɪk/ UK
- /ɪˈtælɪk/ US
Where it comes from
Via Latin ītalicus from Ancient Greek Ἰταλικός (Italikós), from Ἰταλία (Italía, “Italy”).
adjective
- Of or relating to the Italian peninsula.
- Pertaining to a subfamily of the Centum branch of the Indo-European language family, that includes Latin and other languages (as Oscan, Umbrian) spoken by the peoples of ancient Italy
-
Osco-Umbrian; an extinct branch of such language family, which excludes the Latino-Faliscan languages
The ancient Italic languages that are now extinct include Oscan, Umbrian, and South Picene.
Similar: Osco-Umbrian, Sabellic, Sabellian
- Pertaining to various peoples that lived in Italy before the establishment of the Roman Empire, or to any of several alphabet systems used by those peoples. There were several Italic alphabets, one being the Etruscan alphabet.
proper noun
- The Italic family taken as a whole. The centum families include Celtic, Germanic, Greek, and Italic.
Thesaurus
Translations
Every language
adj designed to resemble a handwriting style
| Español | cursivo, bastardillo, itálico |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | イタリック itarikku |
| Português | itálico |
| Français | italique |
| Deutsch | kursiv |
| Italiano | corsivo, corsiva |
| Русский | курси́вный kursívnyj |
| עברית | נָטוּי natúy |
adj having a slant to the right
| 日本語 | 斜体の shatai no |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 斜體的 /斜体的 xiétǐ de |
| Русский | накло́нный naklónnyj |
noun typeface whose letters slant to the right
| Español | cursiva, itálica, letra bastardilla, bastardilla, letra cursiva, letra itálica |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 斜体 shatai, イタリック itarikku |
| 中文 | 斜體 /斜体 xiétǐ |
| Português | itálico |
| Français | italique |
| Deutsch | Kursivschrift, Kursivdruck |
| Ελληνικά | πλάγιος χαρακτήρας plágios charaktíras |
| Русский | курси́в kursív |
adj pertaining to a subfamily of a branch of the Indo-European language family
| 日本語 | イタリア語派の itaria goha no |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | इटालिक iṭālik |
| Deutsch | italisch |
Talk about this word "italic." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/italic. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. italic. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/italic "italic." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/italic.Cite this
@misc{italic_2026,
title = {italic},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/italic},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
