(typography, plural only) Letters in an italic typeface.
There is no need to put the whole paragraph in italics.
1786, Alexander Geddes, Prospectus of a New Translation of the Holy Bible from Corrected Texts of the Originals, Compared with the Ancient Versions.[…], Glasgow: Printed for the author, and sold by R[obert] Faulder,[…]; C. Eliot,[…]; and —— Cross,[…], →OCLC, page 95: