Nerd Font
also: Nerd Fonts, patched fonts, symbol fonts
A font typeface that includes extended glyphs and symbols (icons, powerline characters, coding ligatures) patched for use in terminal emulators and code editors. Nerd Fonts are free, open-source, and popular among developers and Linux enthusiasts.
Nerd Fonts are collections of popular monospace typefaces that have been extended with thousands of additional glyphs—including Font Awesome icons, Powerline symbols, Devicons, and other developer-oriented symbols. They bridge the gap between traditional coding fonts and modern icon sets needed in terminal prompts and status lines.
A Nerd Font works by combining a base font (like DejaVu Sans Mono, Ubuntu Mono, or Fira Code) with glyphs in private Unicode ranges so there are no conflicts. For example, you can insert a Git branch icon or a checkmark directly into your bash prompt: \ue0a0 renders a Powerline branch symbol when the Nerd Font is active.
They're essential for terminal themes like Starship, Oh My Zsh, and Neovim configurations that display status icons. Simply download a Nerd Font variant, install it in your system (~/.local/share/fonts/ on Linux), and configure your terminal to use it.