Em
/ɛm/noun
A typographic unit traditionally equal to the point size of a typeface, also used in names such as em dash.
Did you know?The typographic em was originally associated with the width of the capital letter M, though modern fonts define it as a scalable unit rather than a fixed letter width.
Etymological Timeline
2nd Millennium BCE
Proto-Canaanite
𐤌
“A pictographic sign associated with water”
1st Millennium BCE
Phoenician
mem
“The letter-name meaning “water””
Ancient Greek
Greek
mu
“The name of the letter Μ, inherited from Semitic mem”
Classical Latin
Latin
em
“The spoken name of the letter M”
15th Century
Early Modern English
em
“A printer’s unit based on the size of the type”
Modern English
English
em
“A scalable typographic unit equal to the current font size”