Attested since 1808. In typography, the em is named after theem quadrat (later calledem quad), fromm quadrat, a metal type used in letterpress typesetting, which is as wide as the point size of the font.

• enPR:ĕm,IPA^(key):/ˈɛm/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛm

em (pluralems)

1. The name of theLatin-script letterM/m.

   Theems and ens at the beginnings and ends.

   • 2004, Will Rogers,The Stonking Steps, page170:

     It said, in a whispering, buzzing voice, "Gee-you-ess-ess-ay-dash-em-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-em-eye-en-gee-oh-dash-pee-eye-pee-dash-pee-ee-ar-ar-wye-dash-pee-eye-en-gee-oh."

2. (typography) Aunit ofmeasurement equal to theheight of the type in use.

   Synonyms:quad,em quad,mutton,mut

• (Latin-script letter names)letter;a,bee,cee,dee,e,ef,gee,aitch,i,jay,kay,el,em,en,o,pee,cue,ar,ess,tee,u,vee,double-u,ex,wye,zee /zed

em

1. Alternative form of'em

Coined by Christine M. Elverson by removing the "th" fromthem, perhaps influenced by the pre-existingem/'em, now often perceived asapheretic forms ofthem (though originally unrelated).

• IPA^(key):/ɛm/

em (third-person singular,gender-neutral, objective case,reflexiveemself,possessive adjectiveeir,possessive pronouneirs)

1. (rare,nonstandard)Agender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, the objective case ofey ore, equivalent to the singularthem and coordinate withhim andher.
   • 1986 April 1, Michael Spivak,The Joy of TeX: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the AMS-TeX macro package‎^[1], Providence: American Mathematical Society,→ISBN,→LCCN,LCCZ253.4.T47 S673 1986, page68:

     If the author uses such notation, it should be up toEm to indicateEir intentions clearly, but there’s no harm checking first.

   • 1997, Steven Shaviro,Doom Patrols : A Theoretical Fiction About Postmodernism, London: Serpent's Tail,→ISBN,→LCCN, page138:

     I may become quite intimate with someone, spend hours withem every night, and yet not have the slightest idea whateir voice sounds like, or what eirRL body looks, feels, and smells like.

   • 2000, Jane Love, “Ethics, Plugged and Unplugged: The Pegagogy of Disorderly Conduct”, in James A. Inman, Donna N. Sewell, editors,Taking flight with OWLs: Examining Electronic Writing Center Work‎^[2], Taylor & Francis,→ISBN,LCCPE1414.T24 1999, page193:

     E invitesem to consider howey represent emselves^[sic], and in so doing,e focuseseir attention on the ethics that make human relations possible.

   • 2011 March 15, RJ Edwards, “89: New Friend”, inRiot Nrrd‎^[3], retrieved2012-10-06:

     And ultimately: I think my readers are mature enough that knowingeir assigned gender is not going to give them an “excuse” to misgenderem.

   • 2023, Aimee Ogden, “A Half-Remembered World”,The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, vol. 145, no. 1-2, whole no. 768 (July/August 2023), pages 146-202

     “You idiot girl! Are you childsick?” She grabbed Asu’s wrist; Asu made no effort to twist away. “Sand and soil, tell me you’re not pregnant. Is it that—what’s eir name? Aeran? Have you lain withem? Tell me!”

• seeAppendix:English third-person singular pronouns

Compareum.

• IPA^(key):/ɛ(ː)m/

em

1. (Scotland,Ireland) a form ofhesitantspeech, or an expression ofuncertainty

   Synonyms:um,umm,erm;eh,uh

   She was abused by,em... David, I think. That was his name, he's a realem... what's the word, narcissist. You should really stay away from him.

em (pluralems)

1. The name of theCyrillic script letterМ /м.

• -me-,/me,M&E,ME,Me,Me.,me

• IPA^(key):/ˈem/
• Hyphenation:em

em

1. Alternative form ofhem(“he, she”)

• Terry Crowley (2004)Bislama Reference Grammar, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi press,→ISBN, page14

Inherited fromLatinmē, fromProto-Indo-European*(e)me-.

• IPA^(key):(Central,Balearic)[əm]
• IPA^(key):(Valencia)[em]

em (proclitic,contractedm',encliticme,contracted enclitic'm)

1. me (direct or indirect object)

• em is the reinforced (reforçada) form of the pronoun. It is used before verbs beginning with aconsonant.

  Em dic… ―My name is… (literally, “I call myself…”)

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

• IPA^(key):/əm/

em

1. (most dialects)Reduced form ofim(“to him”).

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

• IPA^(key):/əm/

em

1. (most dialects)Reduced form ofdäm(“to the”).

• The normal reduced form isdem (also speltd'm). The further reduction is used especially after prepositions.

See the etymology of the correspondinglemma form.

• IPA^(key):/em/

em

1. (most dialects)Contraction ofendäm(“in the”).

• om,öm(Eifel)

FromOld High Germanumbi.

• IPA^(key):/em/

em (+ accusative)

1. (Moselle Franconian)around

• öm(Ripuarian)

• IPA^(key):[ˈɛm]

em n (indeclinable)

1. The name of theLatin-script letterM/m.

• “em”, inPříruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech),1935–1957
• “em”, inSlovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech),1960–1971, 1989

FromOld Norseeimr, from FromProto-Germanic*aimaz. Cognates includeNorwegian Nynorskeim andIcelandiceimur.

• IPA^(key):[ˈɛmˀ]

em c (singular definiteemmen,not used in plural form)

1. steam,vapour

   Coordinate terms:damp,os,røg

   1. asmell,odour

      Coordinate terms:lugt,dunst,stank,odør

   2. (figurative) adistinctfeature

• emme
• emhætte

Abbreviation ofeuropamesterskab.

• Em

• IPA^(key):[ˈeˀˈɛm]

em (singular definiteem'et,plural indefiniteem'er)

1. (sports)Europeanchampionship

em

1. imperative ofemme

• “em” inDen Danske Ordbog

Akin toMongolianэм(em).

em

1. medicine

FromDutchem.

• IPA^(key):/ɛm/,[ɛm]

èm (pluralem-em)

1. The name of theLatin-script letterM/m.

• (Latin-script letter names)huruf;a,be,ce,de,e,ef,ge,ha,i,je,ka,el,em,en,o,pe,ki,er,es,te,u,ve,we,eks,ye,zet

• “em” inKamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta:Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

• (Classical Latin)IPA^(key):/ˈem/,[ˈɛ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical)IPA^(key):/ˈem/,[ˈɛm]

em f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letterM.

• Multiple Latin names for the letterM,m have been suggested. The most common isem or asyllabicm, although there is some evidence which also supports, as names for the letter,mē,əm,mə, and even (in the fourth- or fifth-century first Antinoë papyrus, which gives Greek transliterations of the Latin names of the Roman alphabet’s letters)ιμμε(imme).

• (Latin-script letter names)littera;ā,bē,cē,dē,ē,ef,gē,hā /*acca,ī,kā,el,em,en,ō,pē,kū,er,es,tē,ū,ix /īx /ex,ȳ /ī graeca /ȳpsīlon,zēta

Fossilised (2nd person singular) imperative ofemō.

em

1. of wonder or emphasis, there!

• "em", inCharlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879)A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "em", inCharlton T. Lewis (1891)An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• em inGaffiot, Félix (1934)Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894)Latin Phrase-Book‎^[4], London:Macmillan and Co.
  • to sully one's fair fame:vitae splendori(em) maculas(is) aspergere
    
• Arthur E. Gordon,The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 ofUniversity of California Publications: Classical Studies), especially pages 30–31, 42–44, and 63
• Hannah Rosén (1999).Latine loqui: trends and directions in the crystallization of classical Latin. München: Fink. p. 47

• IPA^(key):[ɛm]

• Audio:

  (file)

em m (invariable)

1. The Latvian name of theLatin script letterM/m.

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A),garais ā (Ā),bē (B),cē (C),čē (Č),dē (D),e (E),garais ē (Ē),ef (F),gā (G),ģē (Ģ),hā (H),i (I),garais ī (Ī),jē (J),kā (K),ķē (Ķ),el (L),eļ (Ļ),em (M),en (N),eņ (Ņ),o (O),pē (P),er (R),es (S),eš (Š),tē (T),u (U),garais ū (Ū),vē (V),zē (Z),žē (Ž)

• IPA^(key):/ɛm/

em m inan

1. The name of theLatin-script letterm/M.

• (Latin-script letter names)a,bej,cej,čet,ćej,dej,ej,ět,ef,gej,ha,cha,i,jot,ka,eł,el,em,en,ejn,o,pej,er,ejŕ,es,eš,śej,tej,u,wej,y,zet,žet,źej

• IPA^(key):/em/,[əm]

em

1. Reduced form ofhim

• im
• -m

• (phonetic)IPA^(key):[ɛmʲ]
• (phonemic)IPA^(key):/jɛmʲ/
• Bender phonemes:{yem}

em

1. and

• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary

Inherited fromOld Englishēam(“maternal uncle”), fromProto-West Germanic*auhaim, fromProto-Germanic*awahaimaz.

• eam,eem,eeme,eme,heme,nem
• æem,æm,eom,heam,yem(Early Middle English)
• eame,eyme(Late Middle English)

• IPA^(key):/ɛːm/
• Rhymes:-ɛːm

em (pluralemes)

1. uncle (brother of one'sparents)

   Synonym:uncle

2. (rare)progenitor,forefather
3. (rare)nephew (son of one'ssibling)

• English:eam,eme(dialectal)
• Scots:eme

• “ēm,n.(1).”, inMED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.:University of Michigan,2007.

em

1. Alternative form ofhem(“them”)

em

1. Alternative form ofam

• IPA^(key):/ɛm/
• Rhymes:-ɛm

em (obliqueme)

1. we; us (first-person plural personal pronoun)

CompareSouthern Ohlonemen-(“your”).

em

1. your(second-person, singular, possessive pronoun)

• María de los Angeles Colós, José Guzman, and John Peabody Harrington (1930s)Chochenyo Field Notes (Survey of California and Other Indian Langauges)‎^[5], Unpublished

• ām,āme

FromProto-West Germanic*auhaim(“maternal uncle”).

ēm m

1. anuncle, mother's brother

FromProto-Germanic*immi("am"; a form of the verb*wesaną(“to be; dwell”)), fromProto-Indo-European*h₁ésmi(“I am, I exist”). Cognate withEnglisham,Gothic𐌹𐌼(im,“am”),Latinsum(“am”),Ancient Greekεἰμί(eimí),Albanianjam(“I am”),Sanskritअस्मि(ásmi),Latvianesmu(“(I) am”),esam(“we are”).

em

1. Iam,first-person ofvera (meaning "tobe")

• emk

CompareGermandem.

• IPA^(key):/ɛm/

em (definite)

1. dativemasculine/neutersingular ofder:the

em

1. dative ofer:him, to him
2. dative ofes:it, to it

FromOld Galician-Portugueseen, fromLatinin(“in”), fromProto-Italic*en, fromProto-Indo-European*h₁én(“in”).Doublet ofin.

em

2. in;inside;within(contained by)

   Estouem minha casa.

   I’min my house.

   Encontraram umas moedasno baú.

   They found some coinsinside the chest.

4. on;on top of(located just above the surface of)

   O livro estána mesa.

   The book ison the table.

   • 2003,J. K. Rowling,Lia Wyler,Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page417:

     Então o sorriso reapareceuem seu rosto [...]

     Then the smile reappearedon his face [...]

6. in;at(located in a location)

   Os soldados estãona Crimeia.

   The soldiers arein Crimea.

8. in(part of; a member of)

   Só três jogadores ainda estãonesta equipa/e.

   Only three players are stillin this team.

10. in;into;inside(towards the inside of)

    A água entrouem várias casas.

    The water gotinto various houses.

12. indicates the target of an action

    Quero dar um socona tua cara.

    I want to punch youin the face.

    Mete um processoneles.

    Shove a lawsuit down their throats.

14. in(pertaining to the particular thing)

    Ela não passouem inglês.

    She didn’t passin English.

16. in(immediately after a period of time)

    Entraremos em contato com vocêem duas semanas.

    We will get in contact with youin two weeks.

18. in;during(within a period of time)

    O jornal será publicadono dia cinco.

    The newspaper will be publishedon the fifth.

20. at;in(in a state of)

    Estamosem perigo!

    We’rein danger!

22. in(indicates means, medium, format, genre or instrumentality)

    Fomos pagosem moeda estrangeira.

    We were paidin foreign currency.

24. in(indicates a language, script, tone etc. of writing, speaking etc.)

    Li um livroem holandês.

    I read a bookin Dutch.

26. in(wearing)

    A moçaem preto.

    The ladyin black.

28. (slang)indicates that the object deserves a given punishment

    Cadeianele!

    He should be in jail!

    (literally, “jail on him!”)

29. (formal,literary)used in a gerundial or participial clause to emphasize its conditional or temporal meaning

    Em se tratando de você, já nada me surpreende.

    When it comes to you, nothing surprises me anymore.

    • 2012 November 23, Paulinho, “Atacante Hugo, do Sport, pode ser denunciado por sonegação de impostos na Receita Federal [Sport striker Hugo might be indicted for tax evasion by Brazil's revenue service]”, inBlog do Paulinho [Paulie's Blog]:

      Grande esperança do Sport Recife para evitar o rebaixamento no Brasileirão nas próximas rodadas, o atacante Hugo deve ser denunciado, nos próximos dias, por um dos agentes que realizou sua transação aos Emirados Árabes, pelo crime de Sonegação Fiscal.
      Em comprovada a dívida, terá que arcar com todos os impostos não pegos no período da transação, além de pesada multa.

      Sport Recife's great hope of avoiding relegation in the Brasileirão [Brazil's main soccer league] in the next few rounds, striker Hugo is expected to be indicted, in the next few days, by one of the agents who carried out his deal with the UAE, for the crime of tax evasion.
      If the debt is proven, he'll have to pay all the taxes not paid during the transaction, as well as a hefty fine.

When followed by an article, a pronoun, a demonstrative pronoun or adjective,em is combined with the next word to give the following combined forms:

For quotations using this term, seeCitations:em.

• (inside):dentro de
• (on):sobre,em cima de
• (part of):partede
• (into):para dentro de
• (immediately after):logodepois/após
• (during):consoante,durante
• (wearing):de,vestidode,vestindo

• n'

Cognate withTurkmen,Turkishem,Kyrgyz,Tuvan,Southern Altaiэм(em),Kazakhем(em), etc.

em

1. medicine

   Antonym:ağu

• Tenishev, Edhem (1976) “em”, inStroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow, page324
• 张, 进锋 (Ayso Cañ Cinfen) (2008) 乌璐别格 (Ulubeğ), 鄭初陽 (Çuyañ Yebey oğlı Ceñ), editors,Salar İbret Sözler 撒拉尔谚语 [Salar Proverbs]‎^[6], China Salar Youth League, page 2

em

1. (Southern Scots)emphaticfirst-personsingular simplepresent oftibe

• er
• es
• im

• hem

Borrowed fromOttoman Turkishهم(hem), fromPersianهم(ham).

• IPA^(key):/em/

em … em … (Cyrillic spellingем … ем …)

1. not only … but also

   Em me bioem još da mu kažem hvala. ―Not only did he beat me upbut healso wanted me to tell him thanks.

• em.
• e.m.
• e. m.

em

1. pm (indicating hours in the afternoon);abbreviation ofeftermiddagen.

• Since the 1960s, Sweden primarily uses the 24 hour clock, making am/pm abbreviations unnecessary and less common

• fm

FromEnglishem, the English name of the letterM/m.

• (Standard Tagalog)IPA^(key):/ʔem/[ʔɛm]
• Rhymes:-em
• Syllabification:em

em (Baybayin spellingᜁᜋ᜔)

1. the name of theLatin-script letterM/m, in theFilipino alphabet

   Synonyms:(in the Abakada alphabet)ma,(in the Abecedario)eme

• (Latin-script letter names)titik;ey,bi,si,di,i,ef,dyi,eyts,ay,dyey,key,el,em,en,enye,en dyi,o,pi,kyu,ar,es,ti,yu,vi,dobolyu,eks,way,zi

• “em”, inPambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila,2018

FromEnglishhim.

em

1. Thethird personsingularpronoun refers to a person or thing other than the speaker or the person being spoken to. Pronouns in Tok Pisin are not inflected for different cases.
   • 1989,Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin, Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea,Jenesis1:15:

     God i mekim kamap tupela bikpela lait. Bikpelaem san bilong givim lait long de, na liklikem mun bilong givim lait long nait. Na God i mekim kamap ol sta tu.

     →New International Version translation

• em tasol

• -im

FromEnglishhim.

em

1. he/she/it (third-person singular pronoun)

em

1. first-personpluralpresent ofei

FromProto-Vietic*ʔɛːm, fromProto-Mon-Khmer*(sʔ)iəm; cognate withPacoha-em(“younger sibling”).

According toPhan Kế Bính'sViệt Nam phong tục (1915), apparently the practice of calling each otheranh-em for those in relationship originated from the South Central province ofQuảng Nam:

• (Hà Nội)IPA^(key):[ʔɛm˧˧]
• (Huế)IPA^(key):[ʔɛm˧˧]
• (Saigon)IPA^(key):[ʔɛm˧˧]

• Audio(Hà Nội):

  (file)

(classifierđứa,thằng,con)em• (㛪,俺,腌)

1. ayoungersibling

   thằngem của em ―myyounger brother

2. acousin who is descended from an ancestor who is/was a younger sibling to oneself's or one's spouse's (such as a child of a younger sibling of one of one's parents or a grandchild of a younger sibling of one of one's grandparents)

   Synonym:emhọ

   - Sao anh lại gọi chú ấy là thầy ? Chú ấy làem của em. Chú ấy cũng làem của anh.
   - Anh thấy mình nên tôn trọng cái có trước. Thầy ấy là thầy của anh từ trước khi anh lấy em.

   - Why did you call him "teacher"? He's my "younger sibling", meaning he's yours, too.
   - I felt like I should respect what comes first. He was my teacher long before we're married.

3. a person younger than oneself but of the samegeneration
4. (formal) achild or astudent
   • 2021, Tâm An, “Cận cảnh các em học sinh tiểu học ăn ngủ, sinh hoạt trong khu cách ly tại trường”, inTuổi trẻ online‎^[7]:

     Cận cảnh cácem học sinh tiểu học ăn ngủ, sinh hoạt trong khu cách ly tại trường

     Close-up of primary students living in school quarantine

For quotations using this term, seeCitations:em.

em• (㛪,俺,腌)

1. pronoun used to refer to any person (oneself, the addressee, or any third person) described by the nounem above

   Synonyms:(second person):thằng em,(third person): emấy,ẻm

   thằng em củaem ―my younger brother

   1. (familiar)pronoun used to refer to younger person of the same generation
   2. pronoun used to refer to younger siblings or cousins descended from an ancestor who is/was a younger sibling to one's own or one's spouse's
   3. (formal)pronoun used to refer to achild or astudent

      Synonym:con

      Viết một đoạn văn ngắn miêu tả một thứ bốem làm choem.

      Write a short essay describing somethingyour father made foryou.

2. pronoun used to refer to thegirl orwoman in aromanticrelationship

   Antonyms:anh,eng,tôi,tui

   Anh yêuem. /Em cũng yêu anh.

   I loveyou. /I love you too.

   • (Can wedate this quote?),Alexander Pushkin, translated byHoàng Thúy Toàn,Tôi yêu em [I Loved You], translation ofЯ вас любил:

     Tôi yêuem âm thầm, không hi vọng, / Lúc rụt rè, khi hậm hực lòng ghen, / Tôi yêuem, yêu chân thành, đằm thắm, / Cầuem được người tình như tôi đã yêuem.

     I lovedyou, without words, without hope, / Sometimes I felt shy, sometimes I felt tortured with jealousy, / I lovedyou, truly and deeply, / I prayyou will find someone who lovesyou as much as I ever did.

Textbooks tend to assume grade schoolers and middle schoolers to be young enough to be calledem(literally“little sibling”), but high schoolers to be old enough to be calledanh(“big brother”) andchị(“big sister”).

For quotations using this term, seeCitations:em.

em• (㛪,俺,腌)

1. small;smaller

• anh
• chị

• IPA^(key):/ɛm/

em f (pluralemiau)

1. The name of theLatin-script letterM/m.

• (Latin-script letter names)llythyren;a,bi,ec,èch,di,èdd,e,èf,èff,èg,eng,aetsh,i /i dot,je,ce,el,èll,em,en,o,pi,ffi,ciw,er,rhi,ès,ti,èth,u /u bedol /u gwpan,fi,w,ecs,y,sèd

em

1. Alternative form ofham
   • 1867,GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Ich knouthem.

     I knowhim.

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor,A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published1867,page51