What are two characters joined together by a common stroke called?

Two characters joined together by a common stroke are known as a ligature. This typographic feature combines two or more letters into a single symbol, improving the aesthetic quality of the text and enhancing readability, especially in certain typefaces where the characters may otherwise be too closely spaced or awkwardly positioned next to each other. Ligatures can also help to prevent issues known as "collisions," where characters might overlap or be misinterpreted, providing a cleaner and more harmonious appearance in written text.

Kerning refers to the adjustment of space between individual characters to achieve a visually pleasing balance. While noteworthy, it is a different concept from ligature, which specifically involves the merging of characters into one.

A glyph represents an individual character or symbol in a particular font or typeface. It encompasses letters, numbers, and other visual elements used in writing, but again, it does not imply that two characters are combined into one.

A font is a complete set of characters, symbols, and specific sizes and styles of a typeface. Although fonts can include ligatures, the term itself does not refer to the combination of two characters.

Understanding the distinction between these terms is essential in the field of visual communications and typography, as they each play a unique role in