Which term describes the portion that rises above the x-height?

Which term describes the portion that rises above the x-height?

• A. Ascender
• B. Baseline
• C. Descender
• D. Measure

Answer: (A)

The portion that rises above the main body of lowercase letters is called the ascender. In typography, letters like b, d, h, l, and k have vertical strokes that extend above the x-height—the height of the typical lowercase letter body. The baseline is the line on which all letters sit, and anything that goes below that line is a descender (seen in g, j, p, q, y). The measure is a term related to the horizontal width of a line of text, not the vertical parts of letters. So, since the question asks for the part that rises above the x-height, the ascender is the correct term.

The portion that rises above the main body of lowercase letters is called the ascender. In typography, letters like b, d, h, l, and k have vertical strokes that extend above the x-height—the height of the typical lowercase letter body. The baseline is the line on which all letters sit, and anything that goes below that line is a descender (seen in g, j, p, q, y). The measure is a term related to the horizontal width of a line of text, not the vertical parts of letters. So, since the question asks for the part that rises above the x-height, the ascender is the correct term.