Term used by type designers and calligraphers to describe the area where a stroke splits or branches off from a stem. The prime example of branching occurs on the lower case h, and in most typeface designs is repeated, often with variation on n m u.

Etymology: "branching" is most likely borrowed from biology, and is analogous to the split form of branches on the trunk or stem of a plant.

Some typographers and type designers prefer the term join or joint.