Superior letter
In typography and handwriting, a superior letter is a lower-case letter placed above the baseline and made smaller than ordinary text, but is designed individually and generally shaped slightly thicker to be more visually harmonious, rather than made simply by automation of software shrinking and raising a standard character the way that generic modern superscripts on word processors tend to do. Formerly quite common in abbreviations, the original purpose of superior letters, as with other superior glyphs such as superior figures, was to make handwritten abbreviations clearly distinct from normal words.