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kerning

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kern⋅ing

[kur-ning]
–noun Printing.
the setting of two letters closer together than is usual by removing space between them.

Origin:
1675–85; kern 2 + -ing 1

kern

1[kurn] Printing.
–noun
1. a part of the face of a type projecting beyond the body or shank, as in certain italic letters.
–verb (used with object)
2. to form or furnish with a kern, as a type or letter.
3. to remove a portion of space between (adjacent letters) in preparation for printing.

Origin:
1675–85; < F carne corner of type ≪ L cardin- (s. of cardō) hinge

kern

4[kurn] British Dialect
–verb (used without object)
1. (of a tree or plant) to produce or form kernels, hard grain, or seed.
–verb (used with object)
2. to cause to granulate, esp. to granulate salt.
3. to cover with crystalline grains of salt; salt (meat).
–noun
4. Obsolete. a kernel, as of a nut; a grain, as of sand or wheat.

Origin:
1275–1325; ME kirnen, kerne (v.); akin to kirnelen to develop into seed; see kernel

kern

5[kurn]
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object), noun Scot. and North England.
churn.

kirn

1[kurn; Scot. kirn] Scot. and North England
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to churn.
–noun
2. a churn.
Also, kern.


Origin:
1300–50; ME kirne (n.) < Scand; cf. ON kirnuaskr a churn; c. churn
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To kerning
kern 2   (kûrn)   
n.  The portion of a typeface that projects beyond the body or shank of a character.
tr.v.   kerned, kern·ing, kerns
  1. To provide (type) with a kern.

  2. To adjust space between (characters) in typeset text.


[French carne, corner, from Old North French, from Latin cardō, cardin-, hinge.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

kern 
1683, "part of a metal type projecting beyond the body," as the head of an -f- or the tail of a -j-, from Fr. carne "projecting angle, quill of a pen," from L. cardinem "hinge."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

kerning text
The process of reducing the spacing between certain pairs of letters to improve their appearance. When a font is created, each character is given a width that includes some space around it so that the letters don't run into each other when displayed or printed. This can be thought of as an invisible box around each character. Some pairs of characters such as A and V, look better if the boxes overlap slightly, bringing the characters closer together (but still not touching).
See also tracking, leading.
(1996-06-07)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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