English

The Gutenberg Bible, and all of Johannes Gutenberg's works were printed in blackletter type

Fraktur type. Detail from the dedication page of Goethe's Faust, a 1920 edition.

Alternative forms

• blackletter, black-letter

Noun

black letter ‎(countable and uncountable, plural black letters)

1. (typography) A Northern European style of type, with contrasting thick-and-thin, angular strokes forming upright letterforms, and usually set with a dark typographic colour on the page.
2. Text set in black-letter type.
3. (law) The basic standard elements for a particular field of law, which are generally known and free from doubt or dispute.

Synonyms

• (typeface): gothic, Old English

Hyponyms

• (typeface): bastarda, fraktur, quadrata, rotunda, Schwabacher, textura

Coordinate terms

• (typeface): antiqua, whiteletter

Quotations

• For usage examples of this term, see Citations:black letter.