monospace
A typeface or text style in which every character occupies the same fixed horizontal width, used in technical documentation to distinguish code, commands, filenames, and literals from prose.
Full Definition
Monospace (also called fixed-width or fixed-pitch) type is the standard typographical treatment for code samples, command-line instructions, file paths, variable names, function calls, and other literals in developer documentation. Editors must consistently apply monospace formatting according to the house style guide, typically triggered by backtick markup in Markdown (e.g., `npm install`) or a dedicated code style in word processors. Using monospace incorrectly — for product names or emphasis rather than code — is a common copyediting error. Conversely, failing to monospace an inline command or filename is also a frequent omission. The term is written as one unhyphenated word.
Usage
Usage note: Apply monospace to: commands, code snippets, file paths, environment variables, and literal strings. Do not use monospace for product names or decorative emphasis.
In Context
- "All inline command references such as `git clone` should be formatted in monospace." — Documentation style guide
- "The editor applied monospace formatting to the filename 'config.yaml', which had been left in plain text." — Editorial correction note