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• em
  em

  noun

  the letter M, m.
• 'em
  'em

  pronoun

  them.
• Em
  Em

  emanation.
• EM
  EM

  abbreviation

  electromagnetic.
• em-
  em-

  variant of en- before b, p, and sometimes m:
• E.M.
  E.M.

  abbreviation

  Earl Marshal.

em

¹ American  

[em] / ɛm /

noun

ems plural

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.

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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.

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Em ³ American  

Symbol, Physical Chemistry.

1. emanation.

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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.

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em- ⁵ American  

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

   embalm.

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em- ⁶ American  

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

   embolism, emphasis.

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E.M. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. Earl Marshal.

2. Engineer of Mines.

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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

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'em ² British  

/ əm /

pronoun

1. an informal variant of them

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em- ³ British  

prefix

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

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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

Font Bureau even did some customization for us—they provided us with wider em- and en-dashes for our home page headline font, for example, since our headlines are full of em-dashes.

From Slate • Sep. 23, 2013

Dr. Allen Sinclair Will, 65, founder & director of Rutgers' Department of Journalism, onetime city editor of the Baltimore Sun; of cerebral em- bolism complicated by pneumonia; in Manhattan.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the future, more and more of them may em- ulate the experiments of Tanzania and Kenya.

From Time Magazine Archive

The forms en- and em- are of French origin.

From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton

Erring human mind-forces can work         only evil under whatever name or pretence they are em- 186:9 ployed; for Spirit and matter, good and evil, light and         darkness, cannot mingle.

From Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures by Eddy, Mary Baker