# Abhaya Libre font

> A high-contrast serif for Sinhala and Latin from Mooniak, redrawn from a 1996 Sinhala text face.

Abhaya Libre is a serif typeface for the Sinhala and Latin scripts, led by the Colombo foundry Mooniak with Pushpananda Ekanayake and Sol Matas. Abhaya Libre ships as five files from Regular to ExtraBold and holds 920 glyphs. Abhaya Libre is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 and suits Sinhala and bilingual publishing, from body text to headlines.

## Facts

- Classification: [Serif](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/serif)
- Designed by: Mooniak
- License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/)
- Styles: 5 (Regular 400, Medium 500, SemiBold 600, Bold 700, ExtraBold 800)
- Variable font: No
- Glyphs: 920
- Character sets: latin, latin-ext, sinhala
- Last updated: 2025-09-16
- Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Abhaya+Libre
- Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/abhaya-libre
- Tagged for: Headlines, Editorial, Elegant

## About Abhaya Libre

Abhaya Libre is a serif typeface that pairs Sinhala letters with a matching Latin alphabet. The official notes describe it as a libre, Unicode-compliant version of an earlier Sinhala typeface designed in 1996, which in turn interpreted Sinhala letterpress type of the 1960s; for this release the letters were redrawn from scratch for web pages, tablets and small phone sizes. The Latin, credited to Sol Matas, shows strong contrast between thick and thin strokes, ball-shaped terminals and large counters with short ascenders and descenders. Mooniak, a small type foundry in Colombo, leads the project together with Pushpananda Ekanayake. The download contains five static files, Regular, Medium, SemiBold, Bold and ExtraBold, with no italics and no variable file. Each font holds 920 glyphs across the Sinhala, Latin and Latin Extended subsets, and the notes mention stylistic sets for compact Da forms.

## License

SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Abhaya Libre Project Authors (https://github.com/mooniak/abhaya-libre-font).

Allowed:
- Use the fonts in personal and commercial work, in print, on the web and in apps.
- Modify the fonts and build new versions from them.
- Redistribute the fonts, on their own or bundled with software, as long as the license text and copyright notice go with them.

Conditions:
- The fonts cannot be sold by themselves.
- A modified version must stay under the same license and cannot use a Reserved Font Name without the copyright holder's permission.
- The authors' names cannot be used to promote a modified version without permission.

Summary only, not legal advice. Full text: https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/

## Where it works

- **Sinhala books and newspapers**: The Sinhala glyph set is described as covering Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit texts, with letters redrawn for small sizes.
- **Bilingual Sinhala and English layouts**: The Latin alphabet was drawn to match the stroke contrast of the Sinhala, so mixed lines keep one texture.
- **Headlines and subheadings**: SemiBold, Bold and ExtraBold files give titles a darker colour than the Regular used for text.
- **Web pages read on phones**: Large counters and short ascenders and descenders were added, according to the notes, for viewing on screens.

## Things to know

- **No italics**: Abhaya Libre has upright files only. Emphasis within text has to use a heavier weight.
- **Five static files**: The package holds Regular, Medium, SemiBold, Bold and ExtraBold as separate files. There is no variable font.
- **Name of the family**: The official notes derive the name Abhaya from King Abhaya, who ruled from the ancient kingdom of Upatissa Nuwara in Sri Lanka.

## FAQs

### Is Abhaya Libre free for commercial use?

Yes. The SIL Open Font License 1.1 covers Abhaya Libre: personal and commercial use, modification and redistribution are allowed. Abhaya Libre cannot be sold on its own, and a modified version must stay under the same license.

### Who designed Abhaya Libre?

Abhaya Libre is credited to Mooniak, a type foundry in Colombo. The font's name table lists Pushpananda Ekanayake, Sol Matas and Pathum Egodawatta, and the official notes credit the Latin letters to Sol Matas.

### Does Abhaya Libre support Sinhala?

Yes. Abhaya Libre includes the Sinhala script alongside Latin and Latin Extended characters.

### Is Abhaya Libre a variable font?

No. Abhaya Libre is not a variable font; it is supplied as separate static files.

### Which Latin-script languages does Abhaya Libre cover?

Abhaya Libre includes the letters needed for English and other Latin-script languages such as French, German, Turkish, Polish and Romanian.

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Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/abhaya-libre (trendhub)