em

¹ American  

[em] / ɛm /

noun

plural

ems

1. the letter M, m.

2. Also called mut, mutton.  Printing.

   1. the square of any size of type used as the unit of measurement for matter printed in that type size.

   2. (originally) the portion of a line of type occupied by the letter M in type of the same size.

3. em pica.

---

adjective

1. Printing. having the area of an em quad or the length of an em dash.

'em ² American  

[uhm] / əm /

pronoun

Informal.

1. them.

   Put 'em down there.

---

Em ³ American  

Symbol, Physical Chemistry.

1. emanation.

---

EM ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. electromagnetic.

2. electromotive.

3. electronic mail.

4. electron microscope; electron microscopy.

5. end matched.

6. Engineer of Mines.

7. enlisted man; enlisted men.

---

em- ⁵ American  

1. variant of en- before b, p, and sometimes m:

   embalm.

---

em- ⁶ American  

1. variant of en- before b, m, p, ph:

   embolism, emphasis.

---

E.M. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. Earl Marshal.

2. Engineer of Mines.

---

em ¹ British  

/ ɛm /

noun

1. Also called: mutton.   mut.  the square of a body of any size of type, used as a unit of measurement

2. Also called: pica em.   pica.  a unit of measurement used in printing, equal to one sixth of an inch

---

'em ² British  

/ əm /

pronoun

1. an informal variant of them

---

em- ³ British  

prefix

1. before b, m, and p, a variant of en- 1 en- 2

---

Etymology

Origin of em¹

First recorded in 1860–65

Origin of 'em²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English hem, Old English heom, dative and accusative plural of he ¹

Example Sentences

The turnover ➡️ The easy deuce for Khamenia @DukeMBB makes em pay.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X the following brag: “Small-but-happy win: If you tell ChatGPT not to use em dashes in your custom instructions, it finally does what it’s supposed to do!”

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 20, 2025

“Some of em last for a long time if we’re lucky, but most of them are fleeting,” he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 2, 2025

Along with the now-infamous em dash, many are renouncing words for which ChatGPT is known to have a mysterious penchant, such as delve, nestled, boast, and meticulous.

From Slate • Aug. 20, 2025

You try and get a baby to go in the toilet before its time, it’ll make em crazy.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett