kerning means the adjustment of the horizontal space between selected pairs of glyphs in a typeface. It carries an Arena rating of 1527, earned across 48 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, kerning ranks #423 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words, #1,275 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #2,207 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #2,345 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
kerning is pronounced /ˈkɝnɪŋ/.
Why “kerning” is a great word
KERNING — [Noun] The adjustment of the horizontal space between selected pairs of glyphs in a typeface to achieve a visually pleasing result. From kern, meaning 'the part of a letter which extends into the space used by another letter', + -ing (suffix forming nouns). The word kern derives from French carne ('corner, projecting angle'). Unlike “tracking,” which applies uniform spacing across a block of text, or “leading,” which governs the vertical distance between lines, kerning is the surgical intervention between specific, problematic pairs. It is the subtle retreat of an 'A' from a looming 'V', the closing of the awkward gap beneath a 'V' meeting an 'A', and the delicate tuck of an 'r' under the canopy of a 'T'—a quiet, geometric diplomacy that makes words feel not merely assembled, but destined for each other.
Etymology
From kern (“part of a letter which extends into the space used by another letter”) + -ing, from French carne (“corner”).
noun
- The adjustment of the horizontal space between selected pairs of glyphs in a typeface.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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