ascender
(əˈsɛndə(r))
[f. ascend v. + -er1.]
a. He who or that which ascends.
| 1623 Bingham Xenophon 63 Another Hill..that the night before, was by the first ascenders won from the enemies Guards. 1880 R. Hope in B. Googe's Pop. Kingd. iv. 53 marg., Birds are eaten, on Ascension Day, as ascenders. |
b. spec. in Typogr. (see quot.)
| 1867 T. MacKellar Amer. Printer 48 Ascenders, all the capital letters, and the b, d, f, h, i, j, k, l, t, so called because they ascend to the top of the body of the types. A colloquial phrase for Ascending Letters. |
c. In Printing and Palæography, an ascending stroke; a stroke which extends above the body of a letter.
| 1934 in Webster. 1938 A. H. Smith in London Mediæval Stud. I. 204 After neah there is a long ascender which may be part of h or l or b. 1955 C. E. Wright Bald's Leechbook 24 The hook at the top of the ascender of b. |