# kern

/ˈkɝn/ (US) · /kˈɜːn/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/kern
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. to adjust letter spacing

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to change the small space between two letters so they look better together.

For teachers: to adjust the horizontal space between specific pairs of characters to achieve a visually pleasing result.

- You should kern the 'A' and 'V' more closely so the word looks balanced.
- The graphic designer spent hours learning how to kern the display typeface to ensure the headline appeared seamless at large scales.

Usage: Usually used as a transitive verb in the context of digital typesetting or graphic design.

### 2. part of a letter

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

the part of a printed letter that sticks out into the space of the next letter.

For teachers: the portion of a character's shape that extends beyond its side bearings into the space of an adjacent character.

- In old metal type, the kern of the 'f' often hung over the next letter.
- The italic 'f' is a classic example of a character with a significant kern that requires careful physical handling in letterpress printing.

### 3. historical soldier

noun · CEFR C2 · Archaic · Literary

a lightly armed soldier from ancient Ireland or Scotland.

For teachers: a light-armed foot soldier in the medieval or early modern militias of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.

- The old stories describe a brave kern fighting in the mountains.
- Shakespeare's Macbeth mentions the 'kerns and gallowglasses' that arrived from the Western Isles to join the rebellion.

### 4. harvest tradition

noun · CEFR C2 · Dialect · Archaic

a word used in some dialects for a grain of corn or a harvest celebration.

For teachers: a dialectal term for a kernel of grain or the final sheaf reaped at harvest, often associated with traditional festivals.

- The farmers gathered for the kern-supper after the last of the wheat was cut.
- Local folklore dictates that the kern-baby be fashioned from the last handful of grain to ensure a prosperous season next year.

## Examples

- I need to kern these two letters because they look too far apart.
- The graphic designer spent hours manually kerning the headline to ensure the logo looked perfectly balanced.
- While modern software handles most spacing automatically, high-end typography often requires manual intervention to kern problematic pairs that create distracting visual gaps in large-scale display text.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.