In typography, a set of all characters in a particular typeface.
A type font contains all of the alphanumerics (letters and numbers), punctuation marks, special characters, ligatures, etc., contained in a typeface. The term wrong font refers to a character that does not belong to the font. Examples of fonts are Palatino, Times, and Souvenir. The word font itself derives from funditus, a verbal corruption of the Latin word fundere ("to pour"). Funditus, in popular parlance, meant "a pouring, molding, or casting," referring to casting hot metal type.
In older typesetting terminology, font was used to refer to only those characters of a particular size, weight, and style (italic, bold, etc.). Thus, one typeface could have many fonts. In desktop publishing terminology font is used interchangeably with typeface.
The term font has also been used to refer to the specific physical device used to store the characters in a font, such as a film strip, disc, grid, or case (in metal type). (Whence the British term for font, fount.)
Although many fonts have the same name, different sources may subtly vary some elements within a typeface. Helvetica, for example, may be somewhat different when purchased from two different places.
Fonts for the computer may be available in different formats (file formats/encodings). Currently, the .otf (OpenType format) is considered the most reliable when installed cross-platform (on both Macs and PCs). Font management software is used by professionals to organize fonts and prevent printing problems caused by corrupt or missing font files.