Italics

Italics are a typographic style characterized by a slanted letterform used to signal emphasis or to distinguish certain words from the surrounding text. In typography, italics may be a distinct font family or a slanted version of the regular typeface; a true italic is usually a separate design with its own letter shapes, ligatures, and spacing, while an oblique simply slants the upright form.

Historically, italics originated in early 16th-century Italy. The first italic type was designed by Francesco Griffo for the Aldine Press, around 1500–1501, under editor and publisher Aldus Manutius. The aim was to save space and to provide a distinct style for emphasis, foreign words, and book titles within running prose.

Italics are widely used for emphasis in body text, for the titles of longer works such as books, films, and periodicals, and for foreign words and terms being introduced. In scientific writing, genus and species names are italicized (e.g., Homo sapiens). In mathematics and science, variables are typically set in italic. Style guides vary: when possible, emphasis is shown with italics; book- and article-titles conventions depend on the system (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.). In digital text, HTML provides the semantic tag em for emphasis and the tag i for a non-emphatic typographic change; CSS can apply font-style: italic.

Design considerations distinguish true italics from oblique type, and fonts differ in how their italic forms are designed. In many typography contexts, italics remain an essential tool for readability and coherence, balancing emphasis, nomenclature, and stylistic conventions.