corsiva

Corsiva is a term used in typography to refer to italic or cursive letterforms. In Italian, and in several Romance-language contexts, corsiva designates the slanted, handwriting-like style applied to type to indicate emphasis, denote foreign words, or distinguish proper nouns, similar to the English term italic. In digital typesetting, corsiva can describe either true italics produced by a font’s italic glyphs or oblique variants where the shapes are simply slanted.

One widely known specimen is Monotype Corsiva, a decorative script typeface released by Monotype Imaging. It imitates formal handwriting with flowing strokes, ligatures, and swashes, and is commonly used for invitations, diplomas, and display headings rather than long blocks of body text. Like other script faces, its legibility decreases with extended passages and smaller sizes, so it is generally reserved for short text, headings, or decorative accents.

In practice, corsiva serves stylistic purposes rather than as a primary text face. It is often paired with a plain roman or sans-serif for contrast, to avoid reducing readability. The use of corsiva can convey formality, elegance, or a handwritten impression, but overuse can hamper legibility and tone. The concept traces back to the broader history of italic type, which emerged in the 16th century to emulate manuscript handwriting and has since evolved into a variety of formal and casual script styles.