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A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

Alignment:

Refers to the position of lines in a paragraph in relation to a document’s left and right margins; e.g., whether they are left-aligned, centered, right-aligned, or justified (evenly spaced).

Apply style:

The act of formatting paragraphs and text according to an existing style definition.

AutoCorrect:

A means of continually checking your document for misspelled/unrecognized words and grammar errors.

AutoFormat:

A feature that automatically changes text as you type; includes formatting such as numbered and bulleted lists, borders, capitalization, and common spelling errors.

Automatic numbering:

Refers to the application of sequential numbers to consecutive paragraphs; typically each numbered paragraph is an item in a list.

B

Bold:

Characters that appear darker than surrounding text; bold should be used for sparingly for emphasis.

Borders:

Boxes placed around text, pages, and tables; they add emphasis or decoration to the enclosed data.

Bullets:

Special characters or symbols used to set off a paragraph; typically each bulleted paragraph is an item in a list that consists of a symbol and indented text.

C

Center alignment:

When selected, each line of a paragraph is centered between the left and right margins or indents.

Centering:

The placement of a line of text in the center of the page where the left-most and right-most characters in the line are the same distance from the left and right margins.

Character style:

Styles represented by and underlined “a” in the Style List; these styles store all the formatting for a single character and can be applied to one or more characters within a paragraph without affecting the rest of the paragraph.

Columns:

In a document, refers to the formatting of text so that it flows side-by-side on a page.

D

Dictionaries:

In Word, consists of a main dictionary that cannot be altered and a custom dictionary you can add to and edit.

.docm:

A new XML-based file format used for macro-enabled documents.

.docx:

A new XML-based default file format that uses compression technology to make file sizes smaller; it structures files modularly so different components are kept separate for better recovery and integrates easily with other program that support XML standards.

.dotm:

A new XML-based file format used for macro-enabled templates.

.dotx:

A new XML-based file format used for document templates Draft view: A view that displays your document in a format that permits easy editing of the text; certain elements such as headers and footers are not visible.

E

F

Formulas:

Simple calculations that follow the syntax of Excel formulas.

Full Screen reading view:

The document appears in a format that maximizes the space available for reading or commenting.

G

H

Hard return:

A means of ending a paragraph and moving your cursor to the beginning of the next line by pressing [Enter].

Heading styles:

Refers to the nine predefined styles (Heading 1 through 9) that determine the size, numbering, and position of document headings.

I

Indentation:

The amount of space measured from the page margin that is applied to a paragraph or other element of the document.

Inline picture:

A graphic that is connected to the text around it so that if you insert or remove text, the graphic moves accordingly.

Insertion point:

The place where text or graphics will be placed in your document.

Italic:

Characters that appear slightly tilted to the right; italics is normally used for providing special emphasis.

J

Justified alignment:

When selected, all but the last line of a paragraph is aligned with both the left and right margins or indents; Word accomplishes this by adjusting the spacing between words.

K

Keep Lines Together:

A command that prevents Word from breaking a paragraph between pages.

Keep With Next:

A command that prevents a page break from being inserted between a paragraph and the one that follows it.

L

Left alignment:

When selected, the left side of a paragraph is aligned with the left margin or indent and the right side is ragged; the default alignment for body text.

Left justification:

Text that starts at the left margin and is wrapped at the right margin to form a ragged appearance.

Legal blackline option:

A feature that allows you to compare two documents and display only what is different between them.

Line spacing:

Refers to the number of lines used by each line of text; single-spaced lines are followed by another line of text, while double-spaced lines are followed by a blank line.

M

Mail Merge: Refers to the process of combining a data source and a document to produce unique output such as personalized letters and pre-addressed envelopes or mailing labels. Main document: A type of document available in Mail Merge that can be combined with a data source to produce unique output. Margin: The amount of blank space above and below the right and left of the main body of a document; usually measured in inches or characters. Merge field: A placeholder inserted into a main document that instructs Word where to put information that comes from a data source during a mail merge.

N

Non-printing characters:

Those elements that can be seen in the document area of your screen but cannot be printed (e.g., paragraph marks, spaces, tabs, and gridlines); optionally, you can turn non-printing characters off.

Normal style:

Refers to the default text style Word uses as a basis for defining all other styles.

O

Outline view:

A view that displays your document in outline form with tools at the top.

P

Page Break Before:

A command that forces Word to insert a page break before the next paragraph.

Paragraph:

In Word, it begins where you start typing and ends where you press [Enter].

Paragraph formatting:

Formatting that includes options like text alignment, indents, tabs, margins, and justification.

Print Layout view:

A view that displays your document as it will appear on the printed page.

Q

R

Right alignment:

When selected, the right side of a paragraph is aligned with the right margin or indent and the left side is ragged.

S

Section:

A part of a document defined by a section break; it can contain page setup options, headers and footers, and other formatting such as text columns that are independent of other parts of the document.

Shading:

An option that allows you to apply varying degrees of grayness as well as patterns to the background of selected text.

Soft return:

Formatting that is automatically inserted at the end of a line when text wrapping occurs.

Spacing:

Refers to the space above and below a paragraph; measured in points.

T

U

Underline:

A thin line inserted beneath selected text; on web pages, underlined text represents a link.

V

W

Web Layout view:

The document appears as it would on a web page.

Widow/Orphan control:

A command that prevents Word from placing the last line of a paragraph at the top of a page (widow) or the first line of a paragraph at the bottom of a page (orphan).

X

Y

Z