mean line

{{Short description|Term used in typography}}

{{Refimprove|date=January 2007}}

{{For|the branded rail service|West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive}}

In typography, the mean line is the imaginary line at the top of the x-height.{{cite book|title=The Complete Manual of Typography: A Guide to Setting Perfect Type, Second Edition|last=Felici|first=James|publisher=Adobe Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-321-77326-5|pages=315}}

file:Typography Line Terms.svg

Round glyphs will tend to break (overshoot) the mean line slightly in many typefaces, since this is aesthetically more pleasing, otherwise curved letters such as a, c, e, m, n, o, r, s, and u will appear visually smaller than flat-topped (or bottomed) characters of equal height, due to an optical illusion.