roman

ro·man

noun \rō-ˈmäⁿ\

Definition of ROMAN

: a metrical romance

Origin of ROMAN

French, from Old French romans romance

First Known Use: 1765

Rhymes with ROMAN

arpent, beurre blanc, croissant, L'Enfant, Mont Blanc, riant, Rouen, savant

¹Ro·man

noun \ˈrō-mən\

Definition of ROMAN

1

a : a native or resident of Rome

b : a citizen of ancient Rome or of the Roman Empire

2

often offensive : roman catholic

3

not capitalized : roman letters or type

Examples of ROMAN

1. The type should be set in roman.

Origin of ROMAN

partly from Middle English, from Old English, from Latin Romanus, adjective & noun, from Roma Rome; partly from Middle English Romain, from Anglo-French, from Latin Romanus

First Known Use: before 12th century

Rhymes with ROMAN

bowman, foeman, gnomon, nomen, omen, showman, soman, yeoman

²Roman

adjective

Definition of ROMAN

1

: of or relating to Rome or the people of Rome; specifically : characteristic of the ancient Romans <Roman fortitude>

2

a : latin 1a

b : of or relating to the Latin alphabet

3

not capitalized : of or relating to a type style with upright characters — compare italic

4

: of or relating to the see of Rome or the Roman Catholic Church

5

: having a semicircular intrados <Roman arch>

6

: having a prominent slightly aquiline bridge <a Roman nose>

First Known Use of ROMAN

14th century

roman

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Typeface used most widely in Western typography, the general term for the type of this book's text. Characterized by simple, unembellished shapes, roman was developed by 15th-century printers as an alternative to the heavy-bodied, spiky black letter script. Models for a new type that was easier to cut and read were found in the scriptoria, where scribes, probably at the urging of humanist scholars, were experimenting with a letter face they believed had been used in ancient Rome. Historians now trace its ancestry instead to the letter forms developed for Charlemagne's decrees by Alcuin in the 9th century. Within a century, roman had superseded all other typefaces throughout Europe; the sole exception was Germany, where black letter continued to hold sway into the 20th century.