movable typen. Printing Type in which separate pieces of hard material, usually metal, are positioned in a rack to compose the lines on a page. Movable type was invented independently in China and Europe and made possible the widespread dissemination of information through the production of large numbers of identical documents.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.