ital

Writing & Everyday abbreviation · Proofreading and Correction Mark

ital stands for Italics, a proofreading and correction mark abbreviation.

Margin instruction that text be set in italic type, paired with a single underline beneath the word in the text. Editors use it for book titles, foreign words, emphasis and scientific names.

Example: The title Moby-Dick should be ital, so underline it once and mark the margin.

Usage notes

Single underlining as a sign for italics dates from typewritten manuscripts, which could not produce italic type. Style guides italicize titles of books, films and periodicals but put titles of articles and short poems in quotation marks. The opposite instruction is rom (roman).

Related abbreviations

More proofreading and correction mark abbreviations

• bf – Boldface
• caps – Capitals
• CS – Comma splice
• DM – Dangling modifier
• frag – Sentence fragment
• FS – Fused sentence
• lc – Lowercase
• lf – Lightface
• MM – Misplaced modifier
• om – Omitted word
• PE – Printer's error
• ref – Unclear pronoun reference

See all 29 proofreading and correction mark abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.