The font-variant CSS property is a shorthand for the longhand properties font-variant-caps, font-variant-numeric, font-variant-alternates, font-variant-ligatures, and font-variant-east-asian. You can also set the CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) values of font-variant, (that is, normal or small-caps), by using the font shorthand.
font-variant: small-caps; font-variant: common-ligatures small-caps; /* Global values */ font-variant: inherit; font-variant: initial; font-variant: unset;
| Initial value | normal |
|---|---|
| Applies to | all elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line. |
| Inherited | yes |
| Media | visual |
| Computed value | as specified |
| Animation type | discrete |
| Canonical order | the unique non-ambiguous order defined by the formal grammar |
Syntax
Values
normal- Specifies a normal font face; each of the longhand properties has an initial value of normal. Longhand properties of
font-variantare:font-variant-caps,font-variant-numeric,font-variant-alternates,font-variant-ligatures, andfont-variant-east-asian. none- Sets the value of the
font-variant-ligaturestononeand the values of the other longhand property asnormal, their initial value. <common-lig-values>,<discretionary-lig-values>,<historical-lig-values>,<contextual-alt-values>- Specifies the keywords related to the
font-variant-ligatureslonghand property. The possible values are:common-ligatures,no-common-ligatures,discretionary-ligatures,no-discretionary-ligatures,historical-ligatures,no-historical-ligatures,contextual, andno-contextual. stylistic(),historical-forms,styleset(),character-variant(),swash(),ornaments(),annotation()- Specifies the keywords and functions related to the
font-variant-alternateslonghand property. small-caps,all-small-caps,petite-caps,all-petite-caps,unicase,titling-caps- Specifies the keywords and functions related to the
font-variant-capslonghand property. <numeric-figure-values>,<numeric-spacing-values>,<numeric-fraction-values>,ordinal,slashed-zero- Specifies the keywords related to the
font-variant-numericlonghand property. The possible values are:lining-nums,oldstyle-nums,proportional-nums,tabular-nums,diagonal-fractions,stacked-fractions,ordinal, andslashed-zero. <east-asian-variant-values>,<east-asian-width-values>,ruby- Specifies the keywords related to the
font-variant-east-asianlonghand property. The possible values are:jis78,jis83,jis90,jis04,simplified,traditional,full-width,proportional-width,ruby. -
Formal syntax
normal | none | [ <common-lig-values> || <discretionary-lig-values> || <historical-lig-values> || <contextual-alt-values> || stylistic( <feature-value-name> ) || historical-forms || styleset( <feature-value-name># ) || character-variant( <feature-value-name># ) || swash( <feature-value-name> ) || ornaments( <feature-value-name> ) || annotation( <feature-value-name> ) || [ small-caps | all-small-caps | petite-caps | all-petite-caps | unicase | titling-caps ] || <numeric-figure-values> || <numeric-spacing-values> || <numeric-fraction-values> || ordinal || slashed-zero || <east-asian-variant-values> || <east-asian-width-values> || ruby ]where
<common-lig-values> = [ common-ligatures | no-common-ligatures ]
<discretionary-lig-values> = [ discretionary-ligatures | no-discretionary-ligatures ]
<historical-lig-values> = [ historical-ligatures | no-historical-ligatures ]
<contextual-alt-values> = [ contextual | no-contextual ]
<feature-value-name> = <custom-ident>
<numeric-figure-values> = [ lining-nums | oldstyle-nums ]
<numeric-spacing-values> = [ proportional-nums | tabular-nums ]
<numeric-fraction-values> = [ diagonal-fractions | stacked-fractions ]
<east-asian-variant-values> = [ jis78 | jis83 | jis90 | jis04 | simplified | traditional ]
<east-asian-width-values> = [ full-width | proportional-width ]
Example
HTML
<p class="normal">Firefox rocks!</p> <p class="small">Firefox rocks!</p>
CSS
p.normal {
font-variant: normal;
}
p.small {
font-variant: small-caps;
}
Result
Specifications
| Specification | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| CSS Fonts Module Level 3 The definition of 'font-variant' in that specification. |
Candidate Recommendation | Made it a shorthand of the new font-variant-* properties. |
| CSS Level 2 (Revision 1) The definition of 'font-variant' in that specification. |
Recommendation | No change |
| CSS Level 1 The definition of 'font-variant' in that specification. |
Recommendation | Initial definition |
Browser compatibility
| Feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox (Gecko) | Internet Explorer | Opera | Safari (WebKit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | 1.0 | (Yes) | 1.0 (1.0) | 4.0 | 3.5 | 1.0 (85) |
ß → SS |
? | No support | 1.0 (1.7 or earlier) | ? | ? | ? |
i → İ and ı → I |
No support | ? | 14 (14) | ? | ? | No support |
| Greek accented letters | No support | ? | 15 (15) | No support | No support | No support |
| CSS Font L3 version (shorthand) | ? | ? | 34 (34) [1] | ? | ? | 9.1 |
| Feature | Android | Edge | Firefox Mobile (Gecko) | IE Phone | Opera Mobile | Safari Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic support | ? | (Yes) | ? | ? | ? | ? |
ß → SS |
No support | No support | ? | ? | ? | ? |
i → İ and ı → I |
No support | ? | 14.0 (14) | ? | ? | No support |
| Greek accented letters | No support | ? | No support | No support | No support | No support |
| CSS Font L3 version (shorthand) | ? | ? | 34.0 (34) [1] | ? | ? | 9.3 |
[1] Experimental implementation of the CSS Fonts Level 3 extensions was available since Gecko 24. It was governed by the preference layout.css.font-features.enabled defaulting to true on Nightly and Aurora only.