What does kerned mean?
Kerned means that the spacing between selected letters in type has been deliberately adjusted. In typography, letters are not always visually balanced when treated as equal-width shapes, so designers make small changes to the space between particular pairs, such as capitals or letter combinations that would otherwise look too wide or too narrow. The resulting adjustment improves readability and the visual appearance of a word, heading, or design. Kerning is especially important in headlines, logos, and carefully typeset text, though it can be applied automatically by modern design software. The term is less common in ordinary conversation and is most often encountered in publishing, graphic design, typography, and discussions of fonts.
To adjust the spacing between particular letters or letter combinations in type.
"The typesetter kerned the word before printing it."
Usually used in typography and graphic design; the operation is commonly called kerning.
Describing type or text whose letter spacing has been adjusted.
"The kerned title looked much more balanced on the page."
Less common than the verb form and primarily used in design and publishing contexts.
Kerning is the invisible art of making letters fit together: one carefully adjusted space can make a headline look balanced rather than awkward.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does kerned come from?
The word “kern” comes from an older term for the projecting part of a piece of metal type, which produced a characteristic impression on the printed page. The related typography term “kerning” developed from this sense and refers to the adjustment of space between characters. “Kerned” is the past tense and past participle of that inherited English word, whose ultimate origins lie in the history of metal typesetting.
Related word forms
How kerned is actually used
Kerning is a specialized typography term. It is normally used when specific pairs of letters, such as “AV” or “To,” would otherwise appear awkwardly spaced; ordinary adjustments made throughout a typeface are usually called kerning rather than individual kerning operations.