In printing, a single character formed by combining two or more letters or characters into one glyph. Compare 合字 (ごうじ), which is a more general term for a combined character.
See also: 合字
In Western typesetting, ligatures like 'fi' and 'fl' are often used.
Compound of 合体 (がったい, 'union, combination') and 字 (じ, 'character').