understregning

Understregning, or underlining, is the typographic practice of placing a line beneath text to emphasize it. In Danish usage the term covers this feature when used for emphasis, headings, or to indicate notes or links. The line typically sits directly under the baseline of the letters.

Historically, underlining emerged in manuscript culture as a way to emphasize text when italics were unavailable. In early typewriters it functioned as a practical surrogate for italics, with users typing and drawing a line beneath words. As typography evolved, emphasis shifted toward italics and bold, but underlining persisted in titles, annotations, and some educational materials.

Digital typography often reserves underlining for hyperlinks. In HTML the u element and CSS text-decoration: underline produce the line, but using underlining for emphasis can reduce accessibility because readers expect links to be the clickable elements.

Practical considerations include readability and visual clutter on screens, and the clash with descenders in some fonts. In Danish texts, underlining remains common in education and editing, though in many contexts other emphasis methods are preferred.

See also: emphasis in typography, bold, italics, strike-through.