Ligaturer

Ligaturer is a largely nonstandard term that can refer to two related ideas depending on context. In medicine, a ligature is a binding used to stop bleeding or isolate a structure, commonly applied with sutures or mechanical clips. A ligaturer, in informal usage, may denote a clinician who applies ligatures during surgery or endoscopic procedures. More formal terms identify practitioners by specialty (surgeon, vascular surgeon) rather than using the generic label ligaturer. Instruments and materials used include suture threads, ligature needles, and ligature clips; in some settings, devices such as hemoclips provide rapid ligation without suturing.

In typography, a ligature is the joining of two or more characters into a single glyph. A ligaturer in this sense would be a font designer or typesetter who creates or implements ligatures within a typeface. OpenType and other font technologies allow automatic or discretionary ligatures, expanding how characters combine in text. Designers may tailor ligature sets to a font to improve readability or aesthetic effect.

Etymology: ligature derives from Latin ligatura, from ligare meaning to bind.

See also: Ligature, Ligation, Surgical ligation, Type design.