Grotesque, or Grotesk in Germany, is a style of sans-serif typeface from the 19th century. The name was coined by William Thorowgood, the first person to produce a sans-serif type with lower case, in 1832. Capital-only faces of this style were first available from 1816, made by William Caslon IV of the Caslon foundry under the name 2 Line English Egyptian.
Examples of Grotesque designs are:
Later designs are sometimes classified as neo-grotesque.