# Poly font > A medium-contrast serif with a very tall x-height, drawn to fit long agglutinative words into tight lines. Poly is a medium-contrast serif by Nicolás Silva with short ascenders and a very tall x-height. Poly was first designed for agglutinative languages with very long words, so it tolerates tight spacing. Poly comes as a Regular and an Italic with 541 glyphs each and is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. ## Facts - Classification: [Serif](https://trendhub.net/fonts/category/serif) - Designed by: Nicolás Silva - License: SIL Open Font License 1.1 (https://openfontlicense.org/open-font-license-official-text/) - Styles: 2 (Regular 400; with italics) - Variable font: No - Glyphs: 541 - Character sets: latin, latin-ext - Last updated: 2025-09-08 - Official source: https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Poly - Page: https://trendhub.net/fonts/poly - Tagged for: Headlines, Editorial ## About Poly Poly is a serif typeface with moderate contrast, short ascenders and a lowercase that stands nearly as tall as the capitals. The official notes explain that it was first drawn to set text in agglutinative languages, where single words run very long: the aim was a face that accepts tight tracking and puts more letters on a line. In the specimen the serifs are short wedges, the y ends in a heavy curved tail, and the default numerals are old-style figures. The family consists of a Regular and an Italic in one weight and is not a variable font. Each font has 541 glyphs for Latin and Latin Extended, and the notes single out Native South American language families among the Latin-script languages it serves. Nicolás Silva designed Poly, which is published under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 with Poly as a Reserved Font Name. ## License SIL Open Font License 1.1. Copyright (c) 2010, 2011 José Nicolás Silva Schwarzenberg , with Reserved Font Names "Poly". 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 - **Narrow text columns**: The tall x-height and tolerance for tight tracking fit more characters per line in sidebars and mobile layouts. - **Text in languages with long words**: Poly was drawn for agglutinative languages, so long compound words break less often. - **Small print and captions**: Short ascenders and a large lowercase keep letters open at small sizes. - **Headlines over body text**: Wedge serifs and the heavy tail of the y show at display sizes; the italic supplies a second voice. ## Things to know - **Regular and Italic only**: Poly has no bold, so strong emphasis needs another device. - **Old-style numerals**: Figures in the specimen have ascenders and descenders. - **Designer's name appears in two forms**: Google Fonts lists Nicolás Silva; the copyright notice gives the full name José Nicolás Silva Schwarzenberg. ## FAQs ### Is Poly free for commercial use? Yes. Poly is published under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows personal and commercial use, modification and redistribution. The font cannot be sold on its own, and modified versions stay under the same license and cannot use the Reserved Font Name without permission. ### Who designed Poly? Poly was designed by Nicolás Silva, named in full in the copyright notice as José Nicolás Silva Schwarzenberg. ### How many weights does Poly have? Poly has one weight, Regular 400, with a matching italic. It is not a variable font. ### What was Poly designed for? Poly was first made to set text in agglutinative languages, whose words are very long, by fitting more letters on each line. ### Which languages does Poly support? Poly includes the letters needed for English and other Latin-script languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Finnish, Hungarian and Turkish. The official notes also mention Native South American languages written in Latin script. --- Source: https://trendhub.net/fonts/poly (trendhub)