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A character is a single unit of language, such as a letter or punctuation mark. The term is closely related to—but not the same as—a glyph.

Every font has a Unicode character map that links (abstract) character IDs with how to display that character, using the default glyphs.

![A lowercase “a” character, rendered in two different glyphs from the same typeface: On the left, a two-story version; on the right, a single-story version. A line above the two glyphs links them together, showing that both glyphs represent the same character. Separate lines, below each, are grayed out.](images/thumbnail.svg)

While the two terms are sometimes interchangeable when talking about type, a single character can have multiple glyphs (see alternates), and a single glyph can represent multiple characters (see ligatures).

And, even for scenarios where a single character relates to a single glyph, it’s important to note that the character is the abstract concept; the glyph is what we use.