Traditional point-size names explained

Fonts originally consisted of a set of moveable type letterpunches purchased from a type foundry. As early as 1600, the sizes of these types—their "bodies"—acquired traditional names in English, French, German, and Dutch, usually from their principal early uses.^[1] These names were used relative to the others and their exact length would vary over time, from country to country, and from foundry to foundry. For example, "agate" and "ruby" used to be a single size "agate ruby" of about 5 points;^[1] metal type known as "agate" later ranged from 5 to 5.8 points. The sizes were gradually standardized as described above.^[2] Modern Chinese typography uses the following names in general preference to stating the number of points. In ambiguous contexts, the word hào (t Chinese: {{linktext|號, s Chinese: {{linktext|号,  "number") is added to the end of the size name to clarify the meaning.

Note that the Chinese font sizes use American points; the Continental systems traditionally used the Fournier or Didot points. The Fournier points, being smaller than Didot's, were associated with the names of the Didot type closest in size rather than identical in number of points.

Comparison table

Point	Metric size	American system		Continental system			Chinese system
		American^[3]	British^[4]	French	German^[5]	Dutch	Character	Pinyin	Meaning
1	≈ 0.353 mm	American			Achtelpetit	Achtste petit
	≈ 0.529 mm	German			Achtelcicero	Achtste cicero
2	≈ 0.706 mm	Saxon			Non Plus Ultra Viertelpetit	Non plus ultra Vierde petit
	≈ 0.882 mm	Norse		Microscopique	Microscopique	Microscoop Microscopie
3	≈ 1.058 mm	Excelsior^[6]	Minikin	Diamant	Brillant Viertelcicero	Kwart cicero
	≈ 1.235 mm	Ruby Brilliant
4	≈ 1.411 mm	Brilliant		Perle	Diamant Halbpetit	Robijn Diamant Halve petit
	≈ 1.499 mm		Gem
	≈ 1.588 mm	Diamond
5	≈ 1.764 mm	Pearl		Parisienne Sédanoise	Perl	Parel Parisienne	Chinese: {{linktext|八	Bā	"Eight"
	≈ 1.940 mm		Ruby				Chinese: {{linktext|七	Qī	"Seven"
6	≈ 2.117 mm	Nonpareil<		--sic-->	Nonpareille	Nonpareille	Nonparel Nonpareil
	≈ 2.293 mm	Minionette^[7]	Emerald		Insertio	Insertio	Chinese: {{linktext|小六	Xiǎoliù	"Little Six"
7	≈ 2.469 mm	Minion		Mignonne	Kolonel	Kolonel Mignon
	≈ 2.646 mm			Petit-texte			Chinese: {{linktext|六	Liù	"Six"
8	≈ 2.822 mm	Brevier		Gaillarde Petit-texte	Petit Jungfer	Petit Brevier
9	≈ 3.175 mm	Bourgeois		Petit-romain Gaillarde	Bourgeois Borgis	Borgis Burgeois	Chinese: {{linktext|小五	Xiǎowǔ	"Little Five"
10	≈ 3.528 mm	Long Primer		Philosophie	Korpus Garmond	Corpus Garmond
	≈ 3.704 mm						Chinese: {{linktext|五	Wǔ	"Five"
11	≈ 3.881 mm	Small Pica		Cicéro	Rheinländer Discendian	Mediaan Rheinländer
12	≈ 4.233 mm	Pica		St.-Augustin	Cicero	Cicero Augustijn	Chinese: {{linktext|小四	Xiǎosì	"Little Four"
14	≈ 4.939 mm	English		Gros-texte	Mittel	Grote cicero Grote augustijn Mediaan	Chinese: {{linktext|四	Sì	"Four"
15	≈ 5.292 mm			Gros-texte			Chinese: {{linktext|小三	Xiǎosān	"Little Three"
16	≈ 5.644 mm	Columbian Exchange		Gros-texte	Tertia	Tertia	Chinese: {{linktext|三	Sān	"Three"
18	≈ 6.350 mm	Great Primer		Gros-romain	Cicero	Paragon Tekst	Chinese: {{linktext|小二	Xiǎoèr	"Little Two"
20	≈ 7.056 mm	Paragon		Petit-parangon	Text Secunda
22	≈ 7.761 mm	Double Small Pica		Gros-parangon			Chinese: {{linktext|二	Èr	"Two"
24	≈ 8.467 mm	Double Pica		Palestine	Doppelcicero	Dubbele cicero Palestine	Chinese: {{linktext|小一	Xiǎoyī	"Little One"
26	≈ 9.172 mm						Chinese: {{linktext|一	Yī	"One"
28	≈ 9.878 mm	Double English		Petit-canon	Doppelmittel	Dubbele mediaan
30	≈ 10.583 mm	Five-line Nonpareil
32	≈ 11.289 mm	Double Columbian			Kleine Kanon Doppeltertia^[8]	Dubbele tertia
36	12.7 mm	Double Great Primer		Trismégiste	Kanon Canon	Kanon	Chinese: {{linktext|小初	Xiǎochū	"Little Initial"
40	≈ 14.111 mm	Double Paragon			Doppeltext Große Kanon
42	≈ 14.817 mm	Seven-line Nonpareil			Große Kanon	Grote Kanon	Chinese: {{linktext|初	Chū	"Initial"
44	≈ 15.522 mm	Canon		Gros-canon	Missal	Parijs Romein
48	≈ 16.933 mm	Four-line Pica French canon	Canon	Gros-canon	Kleine Missal	Konkordanz Kleine missaal
54	≈ 19.050 mm				Missal	Missaal
56	≈ 19.756 mm			Double-canon
60	≈ 21.167 mm	Five-line pica			Große Missal	Sabon
66	≈ 23.283 mm				Große Sabon	Grote sabon
72	25.4 mm	Six-line pica Inch		Double-trismégiste	Sabon Sechscicero Kleine Sabon	6 cicero
84	≈ 29.633 mm	Seven-line pica			Siebencicero Große Sabon	7 cicero
88	≈ 31.044 mm			Triple-canon
96	≈ 33.867 mm	Eight-line pica		Grosse-nonpareille	Achtcicero Real	8 cicero
100	≈ 35.278 mm			Moyenne de fonte
108	38.1 mm	Nine-line pica			Imperial	9 cicero

See also

• Point (typography)
• Pica (typography)
• Typometer

Notes and References

1. The History of the Typographic Point . Romano, Frank . APHA Newsletter . Summer 2009 . 171 . 3–4.
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