A writing system is the combination of a [script](/glossary/script) (a visual representation of verbal speech, not to be confused with the [“script” classification](/glossary/script_typeface_style) of [typefaces](/glossary/typeface)) and a set of usage conventions (known as an orthography).

Scripts can be used by one or more languages. For instance, although English, French, German, Norwegian, and Portuguese are distinct languages—with their own alphabets, conventions, and [diacritic](/glossary/diacritic_accent_marks) usage—they all use the [Latin](/glossary/latin) script.

<figure>

![A montage of multiple scripts from around the world.](images/thumbnail.svg)

<figcaption>Typefaces: <a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/EB+Garamond">EB Garamond</a>, <a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Roboto+Slab">Roboto Slab</a>, <a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Comfortaa">Comfortaa</a>, <a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Open+Sans">Open Sans</a>, <a href="https://fonts.google.com/noto/fonts">Noto Serif, Noto Sans</a></figcaption>

</figure>

Other scripts include [Greek](/glossary/greek_script) (upon which Latin is based), [Cyrillic](/glossary/cyrillic) (originally based on uppercase Greek forms), Arabic, Korean, Indic scripts from South and South East Asia, Han characters, and the traditional scripts of Africa.