diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 3cf0b8ed8..9f5e66265 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -128,6 +128,12 @@ o The command-line option -D is no longer supported.  It has been
   undocumented, and issued a warning of its obsolescence upon use, for
   30 years, since groff 1.06 (September 1992).
 
+o The "gifont" primitive replaces "gfont" as the means of configuring
+  the global italic face within an equation.  "gfont" remains recognized
+  as a synonym for backward compatibility.  The new name is intended to
+  ease acquisition of the eqn language in light of GNU eqn's
+  thirty-year-old extensions "gbfont" and "grfont".
+
 pic
 ---
 
diff --git a/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.1.man b/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.1.man
index d99766a61..264518487 100644
--- a/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.1.man
+++ b/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.1.man
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ or MathML
 .\" Legal Terms
 .\" ====================================================================
 .\"
-.\" Copyright (C) 1989-2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+.\" Copyright (C) 1989-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 .\"
 .\" Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
 .\" manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
@@ -372,14 +372,19 @@ and
 .SS "New primitives"
 .\" ====================================================================
 .
-The new primitives
-.B type
+The GNU extension primitives
+.RB \[lq] type \[rq]
 and
 .B \%chartype
-are discussed in subsection \[lq]Automatic spacing\[rq] above,
+are discussed in subsection \[lq]Automatic spacing\[rq] above;
+.RB \[lq] set \[rq]
+in subsection \[lq]Customization\[rq] below;
 and
-.B set
-in subsection \[lq]Customization\[rq] below.
+.BR gbfont ,
+.BR gifont ,
+and
+.B grfont
+in subsection \[lq]Fonts\[rq] below.
 .
 .
 .TP
@@ -1404,76 +1409,69 @@ which sets three dots on the baseline.
 .\" ====================================================================
 .
 .I @g@eqn
-normally uses at least two fonts to set an equation:
-an italic font for letters,
-and a roman font for everything else.
-.
-The AT&T
-.I eqn \" AT&T
-.B gfont
-primitive changes the font that is used as the italic font.
-.
-By default this
-.RB is\~ I .
-.
-The font that is used as the roman font can be changed using the new
-.B grfont
-command.
-.
-.
-.TP
-.BI grfont\~ f
-Set the roman font
-.RI to\~ f .
-.
-.
-.P
-The
-.B italic
-primitive uses the current italic font set by
-.BR gfont ;
-the
-.B \%roman
-primitive uses the current roman font set by
-.BR grfont .
+uses up to three typefaces to set an equation:
+an italic face for letters,
+a roman face for everything else,
+and a bold face.
 .
-GNU
-.I eqn \" GNU
-offers a
-.B gbfont
-primitive,
-which changes the font used by the
-.B bold
-primitive.
-.
-If you use only the
-.BR roman ,
-.B italic
+The defaults for these correspond to the
+.I groff
+font styles
+.BR I ,
+.BR R ,
 and
-.B bold
-primitives to change fonts within an equation,
-then
-.BR gfont ,
-.B grfont
+.BR B ,
+respectively,
+using the font family that is current when the equation is set.
+.
+The primitives
+.BR gifont ,
+.BR grfont ,
 and
 .B gbfont
-suffice to configure all the typefaces used by your equations.
-.
+assign a
+.I groff
+typeface to each of
+.IR @g@eqn 's
+faces.
 .
-.LP
-You can control which characters are treated as letters
+Control which characters are treated as letters
 (and therefore set in italics)
-by using the
+with the
 .B chartype
 primitive described above.
 .
-A type of
+A character assigned the type
 .B letter
-causes a character to be set in italic type.
-.
-A type of
+is set in italics;
+a
 .B digit
-causes a character to be set in roman type.
+is set in roman.
+.
+.
+.TP
+.BI gbfont\~ f
+Set the bold font
+.RI to\~ f .
+.
+.
+.TP
+.BI gifont\~ f
+Set the italic font
+.RI to\~ f .
+.
+For
+AT&T
+.I eqn \" AT&T
+compatibility,
+.B gfont
+is recognized as a synonym for
+.BR gifont .
+.
+.TP
+.BI grfont\~ f
+Set the roman font
+.RI to\~ f .
 .
 .
 .\" ====================================================================
@@ -1522,7 +1520,7 @@ statements in the source file override this option.
 .TP
 .BI \-f\~ F
 is equivalent to
-.RB \[lq] gfont
+.RB \[lq] gifont
 .IR F \[rq].
 .
 .
@@ -1716,7 +1714,7 @@ command
 .
 .RS
 .EX
-gfont PI
+gifont PI
 .EE
 .RE
 .
@@ -1727,7 +1725,7 @@ you must use
 .
 .RS
 .EX
-gfont "PI"
+gifont "PI"
 .EE
 .RE
 .
diff --git a/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.ypp b/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.ypp
index d6f8c8b58..4e806d8d7 100644
--- a/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.ypp
+++ b/src/preproc/eqn/eqn.ypp
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ void yyerror(const char *);
 
 /* these are handled in the lexer */
 %token SPACE
-%token GIFONT
+%token GFONT
 %token GSIZE
 %token DEFINE
 %token NDEFINE
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ void yyerror(const char *);
 %token SET
 %token GRFONT
 %token GBFONT
+%token GIFONT
 
 /* The original eqn manual says that 'left' is right associative. It's lying.
 Consider 'left ( ~ left ( ~ right ) right )'. */
diff --git a/src/preproc/eqn/lex.cpp b/src/preproc/eqn/lex.cpp
index 8eaaca593..d2d53f310 100644
--- a/src/preproc/eqn/lex.cpp
+++ b/src/preproc/eqn/lex.cpp
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@ static struct {
   { "mark", MARK },
   { "lineup", LINEUP },
   { "space", SPACE },
-  { "gfont", GIFONT },
+  { "gifont", GIFONT },
+  { "gfont", GFONT }, // for backward compatibility
   { "gsize", GSIZE },
   { "define", DEFINE },
   { "sdefine", SDEFINE },
@@ -1004,7 +1005,7 @@ void do_gsize()
     lex_error("invalid size '%1'", token_buffer.contents());
 }
 
-void do_gifont()
+void do_gfont()
 {
   int t = get_token(2);
   if (t != TEXT && t != QUOTED_TEXT) {
@@ -1015,6 +1016,17 @@ void do_gifont()
   set_gifont(token_buffer.contents());
 }
 
+void do_gifont()
+{
+  int t = get_token(2);
+  if (t != TEXT && t != QUOTED_TEXT) {
+    lex_error("invalid argument to gifont primitive");
+    return;
+  }
+  token_buffer += '\0';
+  set_gifont(token_buffer.contents());
+}
+
 void do_grfont()
 {
   int t = get_token(2);
@@ -1172,6 +1184,9 @@ int yylex()
     case GSIZE:
       do_gsize();
       break;
+    case GFONT:
+      do_gfont();
+      break;
     case GIFONT:
       do_gifont();
       break;