Terminology: Ligatures

When two or more letters are combined into one character, it is called a ligature. In typography some ligatures represent specific sounds or words such as the AE or æ diphthong ligature. In handwriting and typography, a ligature occurs where two or more graphemes are joined as a single glyph. Sadly not all fonts include ligatures.

SymbolSymbol nameSymbol design description

Ææ

Ae (Aesc)This diphthong (two vowel) is the ligature for the letters "ae". It's traditionally used in words like Cæsar, luekæmia, pædiatric, anæsthesia and encyclopædia.

Œœ

OeThis diphthong (two vowel) is the ligature for the letters "oe". It's traditionally used in words like fœtus, diarrhœa, œstrogen.

UeThis diphthong (two vowel) is the ligature for the letters "ue".

ß

Sz (German)Not to be confused with Greek Beta.

Þþ

Thorn or Th
(Traditional English)
Capital letter "P" with a raised upright. Lowercase letter "p" with a raised upright.

Ðð

Eth
(Traditional English)
Capital letter "D" with a horizontal line through the upright. Lowercase reverse italic letter "d" with a line across the upright.

st 

ft 

ff 

fi 

fl 

ffi 

ffl 

Ŋŋ

EngUppercase and lowercase