# Hyphenation

> Source: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/hyphenation

Last updated: 2026-09-06
Category: Typesetting & layout
Also called: Word division · Hyphenation patterns

Hyphenation breaks a word across two lines at a syllable boundary so justified text keeps even spacing; good settings allow at most three in a row.

## Definition

**Hyphenation** is the end-of-line break inside a word, marked with a hyphen, that lets a typesetting engine fill a line evenly rather than leaving a gap. In **justified** text it is essential; in ragged-right text it is optional but still improves the rag.

Where a word may break is a matter of language and dictionary — *typo-graphy* in American style, *ty-pog-ra-phy* by syllable — and engines use either exception lists or **hyphenation patterns**, the language-specific rule sets that Franklin Liang devised for TeX in 1983 and that most modern software has since adopted.

House rules then limit the damage: no more than two or three hyphenated lines in a row; at least two letters before the hyphen and three after; no break in the last word of a paragraph or at the foot of a recto page; avoid breaking proper names, numbers and already-hyphenated compounds; and never split a word so that the first half reads as a different word.

## In Bindery

Bindery typesets in LaTeX, which hyphenates with language-specific patterns — so a translated edition breaks words by that language’s rules.

## Related

- [Justification](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/justification)
- [Typesetting](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/typesetting)
- [LaTeX](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/latex)
- [Translation edition](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary/translation-edition)
- [Turn a Word Document Into a Printed Book](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/word-document-to-printed-book)
- [Translate Your Novel Into Another Language](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/tools/translate-your-novel)
- [Book Publishing Glossary — 59 Terms Defined](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/glossary)
- [Bindery — the Claude-powered book studio](https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/bindery)

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More from Infinite Library, as one map for AI agents: https://www.infinitelibrary.ai/llms.txt