font

Etymology 1

From Old English font, an early borrowing from Latin fōns, fontis (“fountain”).

noun

1. (Christianity) A receptacle in a church for holy water, especially one used in baptism.
   Blessed be God, that, at the font, /⁠ My sponsors bound me to the call / Of Christ in England to confront / The world, the flesh, the fiend and all. 1791, Christopher Smart, “Moderation”, in Hymns for the Amusement of Children
   In the Apostolic Age, as in Jewish times (John, iii, 23), baptism was administered without special fonts, at the seaside or in streams or pools of water (Acts, viii, 38); […] 1913, John Bertram Peterson, “Baptismal Font”, in Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 2
2. A receptacle for oil in a lamp.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French fonte, feminine past participle of verb fondre (“to melt”).

noun

1. (typography) A set of glyphs of unified design, belonging to one typeface (e.g., Helvetica), style (e.g., italic), and weight (e.g., bold). Usually representing the letters of an alphabet and its supplementary characters.
   1. In metal typesetting, a set of type sorts in one size.
   2. In phototypesetting, a set of patterns forming glyphs of any size, or the film they are stored on.
   3. In digital typesetting, a set of glyphs in a single style, representing one or more alphabets or writing systems, or the computer code representing it.
2. (computing, typography, informal) A typeface.
3. (computing, typography) A computer file containing the code used to draw and compose the glyphs of one or more typographic fonts on a computer display or printer.

verb

1. (television, colloquial, transitive) To overlay (text) on the picture.
   When figures or quotes are thought helpful to understanding a spot, they're "fonted" over the cover picture. 1981, William Safire, On language, page 78
   […] character generator instead of an easel card to create letters on camera or telephone numbers that can run across the TV screen. The process is called fonting. 1987, The Foundation Center, Promoting issues & ideas: a guide to public relations for nonprofit organizations, page 97

Etymology 3

Apparently from fount, with influence from the senses above (under etymology 1).

noun

1. (figurative) A source, wellspring, fount.
   1824 — George Gordon, Lord Byron, Don Juan, canto V A gaudy taste; for they are little skill'd in The arts of which these lands were once the font
   As I am not drawing here on the font of imagination to refresh that of fact and experience, I do not suggest that the Tarot set the example of expressing Secret Doctrine in pictures and that it was followed by Hermetic writers; but it is noticeable that it is perhaps the earliest example of this art. 1910, Arthur Edward Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, part II
   I am interested to fix your attention on this prospect now because unless you take it within your view and permit the full significance of it to command your thought I cannot find the right light in which to set forth the particular matter that lies at the very font of my whole thought as I address you to-day. 1915, Woodrow Wilson, Third State of the Union Address
   The Bible lays special stress on the fear of God as the font of wisdom. 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress