type-foundry

type-foundry

A type-foundry produces metal type for printing presses.

Definition

Noun: A type-foundry is a company or workshop that designs and produces metal type for printing, historically responsible for casting individual letters and characters used in letterpress printing.

Usage Examples
  • (A workshop that cast metal letters for early printing presses.)
  • (Companies that manufactured printing type.)
Advanced Usage
  • "to be from an old type-foundry": to originate from a traditional printing establishment.
    • This set of lead type is from an old type-foundry in Leipzig. (The metal letters came from a historic printing workshop.)
Variants and Related Words
  • Typefounder (n): a person who casts or designs type in a type-foundry.
    • The typefounder carefully adjusted the molten metal to create a perfect letter. (The worker who made the type.)
  • Typefounding (n): the craft or business of casting type.
    • Typefounding was a skilled trade during the Industrial Revolution. (The practice of producing printing type.)
Synonyms
  • Letter foundry: a workshop for casting metal letters.
  • Printing type manufacturer: a company that makes type for printing.
Related Idioms
  • "hot metal": refers to type cast from molten metal in a type-foundry.
    • Hot metal typesetting was standard in newspapers before digital printing. (Type cast from molten lead alloy.)