minion
The size of type between nonpareil and brevier, standardized as 7-point.
minion: a 7-point typeface size, now mostly historical
Minion is a fixed type size measuring 7 points, sitting between nonpareil (6-point) and brevier (8-point) in the old hierarchical scale of metal type. It was once common in book printing and periodicals, particularly for body text in smaller formats or for footnotes and marginalia. Today it is rarely cast or specified, existing mainly in digital form and in the memory of letterpress printers.
The name derives from the French word for "favored" or "darling," a playful christening typical of the era when type sizes were named rather than numbered. Like all points-based sizes, minion was standardized during the 19th century as the printing industry moved toward uniform measurement. A point equals 1/72 of an inch; minion therefore measures approximately 0.097 inches or 2.46 millimeters from the top of the tallest ascender to the bottom of the deepest descender in its metal body.
Before phototypesetting and digital fonts, minion appeared regularly in legal documents, reference works, and dense academic texts where economy of space mattered. Printer's specimens from the 19th and early 20th centuries show minion cast in multiple weights and widths by foundries such as Monotype and Linotype. The size allowed roughly 55 to 65 characters per line on standard page widths, making it legible but compact for readers willing to accept smaller print.
The shift to cold type and digital composition in the 1960s onwards made point sizes continuous rather than discrete; a designer could now specify 6.8 points or 7.4 points without waiting for a foundry to cut new metal. Minion became redundant as a practical standard, though it persists as a named size in some digital font families marketed as classical revivals.
In modern printing, minion is encountered almost exclusively in restoration work, in the composition of historical documents meant to match originals, or by hobbyists working in hand press traditions. Its historical importance lies not in its intrinsic properties but in its place within a complete typographic system that once ordered the entire craft.