lettering

1. 1
   noununcountable

   Words set down in written form, especially text that has been printed for others to read.

   The lettering on the carton was too small for her to read without glasses.

   Faint lettering along the spine of the book identified its publisher.

   Similarwriting, text, print, inscription

   Note

   Here the interest is in what the letters say rather than how they look. Lettering on a sign can make it clear that intruders are unwelcome, while the same phrase in the design sense would remark on how tidy it is. The noun is usually uncountable, as in the lettering on the carton, but it also counts, so the plural letterings is available when several separate inscriptions are meant.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   Text that has been deliberately designed or styled, as in art or graphic design.

   The wedding invitation featured elegant hand-drawn lettering in gold ink.

   A designer spent weeks perfecting the lettering on the album cover.

   Similarcalligraphy, typography, script

3. 3
   verb

   Present participle of letter.

   He was lettering the banner when the paint ran out.

   A calligrapher is lettering each certificate by hand.

   Note

   Two different verbs hide behind this form. The transitive one takes the surface as its object, so you are lettering a banner, a sign or a certificate. The other is American and intransitive: a student lettering in a sport is earning a varsity letter, and nothing is being written at all. As a gerund, the form shades into the noun, from lettering a poster to the designed text on it.

   He is lettering in two sports this year.

   Lettering in varsity soccer takes a full season of play.

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