em

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See also: Appendix:Variations of "em"

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology 1[edit]

The typographic em is named after the metal type for the capital M in early printing, whose body was square (the printed letter M is almost never one em in width).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: ĕm, IPA(key): /ɛm/
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛm

Noun[edit]

em (plural ems)

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter M/m.
    The ems and ens at the beginnings and ends.
  2. (typography) A unit of measurement equal to the height of the type in use.
    Synonyms: quad, em quad, mutton, mut
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Determiner[edit]

em

  1. Eye dialect spelling of them, representing African American Vernacular English.

Etymology 3[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Coined by Christine M. Elverson by removing the "th" from them, perhaps influenced by 'em.

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

em (third-person singular, gender-neutral, objective case, reflexive emself, possessive adjective eir, possessive pronoun eirs)

  1. (neologism) them (singular). Gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, coordinate with him and her.
    • 1986 April 1, Spivak, Michael, The Joy of TeX: A Gourmet Guide to Typesetting with the AMS-TeX macro package‎[1], Providence: American Mathematical Society, →ISBN, LCCN 85007506, LCC Z253.4.T47 S673 1986, page 68:
      If the author uses such notation, it should be up to Em to indicate Eir intentions clearly, but there's no harm checking first.
    • 1997, Shaviro, Steven, Doom Patrols : A Theoretical Fiction About Postmodernism, London: Serpent's Tail, →ISBN, LCCN 9668813, page 138:
      I may become quite intimate with someone, spend hours with em every night, and yet not have the slightest idea what eir voice sounds like, or what eir RL body looks, feels, and smells like.
    • 2000, Love, Jane, “Ethics, Plugged and Unplugged: The Pegagogy of Disorderly Conduct”, in Inman, James A.; Sewell, Donna N., editors, Taking flight with OWLs: Examining Electronic Writing Center Work‎[2], Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, LCC PE1414.T24 1999, page 193:
      E invites em to consider how ey represent emselves[sic], and in so doing, e focuses eir attention on the ethics that make human relations possible.
    • 2011 March 15, Edwards, RJ, “89: New Friend”, in Riot Nrrd‎[3], retrieved 2012-10-06:
      And ultimately: I think my readers are mature enough that knowing eir assigned gender is not going to give them an “excuse” to misgender em.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]

See also[edit]

Etymology 4[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Compare um.

Interjection[edit]

em

  1. (Scotland, Ireland) a form of hesitant speech, or an expression of uncertainty; um; umm; erm
    She was going to, em... the salon, I think.

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin mē, from Proto-Indo-European *(e)me-.

Pronoun[edit]

em (proclitic, contracted m', enclitic me, contracted enclitic 'm)

  1. me (direct or indirect object)

Declension[edit]

Catalan personal pronouns and clitics
strong/subject weak (direct object) weak (indirect object) possessive
singular proclitic enclitic proclitic enclitic
1st person jo, mi3 em, m’ -me, ’m em, m’ -me, ’m meu
1st person majestic1 nós ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person tu et, t’ -te, ’t et, t’ -te, ’t teu
2nd person formal1 vós us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person very formal2 vostè el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person masculine ell el, l’ -lo, ’l li -li seu
3rd person feminine ella la, l’4 -la li -li seu
3rd person neuter ho -ho li -li seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
plural
1st person nosaltres ens -nos, ’ns ens -nos, ’ns nostre
2nd person vosaltres us -vos, -us us -vos, -us vostre
2nd person formal2 vostès els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person masculine ells els -los, ’ls els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person feminine elles les -les els -los, ’ls seu
3rd person reflexive si es, s’ -se, ’s es, s’ -se, ’s seu
adverbial
ablative/genitive en, n’ -ne, ’n
locative hi -hi
1) Behaves grammatically as plural.
2) Behaves grammatically as third person. 		3) Only as object of a preposition.
4) Not before unstressed (h)i-, (h)u-.

Related terms[edit]

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

em n

  1. The name of the Latin-script letter M/m.

Further reading[edit]

Kurdish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

em

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

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

em (indeclinable)

  1. The name of the letter M.

Usage notes[edit]

  • Multiple Latin names for the letter M, m have been suggested. The most common is em or a syllabic m, 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).

Coordinate terms[edit]

Interjection[edit]

em

  1. of wonder or emphasis, there!

References[edit]

  • em in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • em in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • em in Gaffiot, 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 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), especially pages 30–31, 42–44, and 63

Latvian[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

(file)

Noun[edit]

em m (invariable)

  1. The Latvian name of the Latin script letter M/m.

See also[edit]

Luxembourgish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

em

  1. Reduced form of him

Declension[edit]

Luxembourgish personal pronouns
nominative accusative dative reflexive
str. unstr. str. unstr. str. unstr.
1st person singular ech — mech — mir mer like dat. and acc.
2nd person singular
(informal) 		du de dech — dir der like dat. and acc.
2nd person singular
(formal) 		Dir Der Iech Iech [əɕ] Iech Iech [əɕ] Iech
3rd person singular (m) hien en hien en him em sech
3rd person singular (f) si se si se hir er sech
3rd person singular (n) hatt et ('t) hatt et ('t) him em sech
1st person plural mir mer eis (ons) — eis (ons) — eis (ons)
2nd person plural dir der iech iech [əɕ] iech iech [əɕ] iech
3rd person plural si se si se hinnen en sech

Middle English[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

em

  1. Alternative form of hem

References[edit]

Old Frisian[edit]

Noun[edit]

ēm m

  1. an uncle, mother's brother

Declension[edit]

Declension of ēm (masculine a-stem)
case singular plural
nominative ēm ēmar, ēma
accusative ēm ēmar, ēma
genitive ēmes ēma
dative ēme ēmum, ēmem

Old Norse[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *immi ("am"; a form of the verb *wesaną (“to be; dwell”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi (“I am, I exist”). Cognate with English am, Gothic 𐌹𐌼 (im, “am”), Latin sum (“am”), Ancient Greek εἰμί (eimí), Albanian jam (“I am”), Sanskrit अस्मि (ásmi), Latvian esmu (“(I) am”), esam (“we are”).

Verb[edit]

em

  1. I am, the first person of vera (meaning "to be")

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Portuguese en, from Latin in (“in”), from Proto-Italic *en, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁én (“in”). Doublet of in.

Pronunciation[edit]

Preposition[edit]

em

  2. in; inside; within (contained by)
    Estou na minha casa.
    I’m in my house.
    Encontraram umas moedas no baú.
    They found some coins inside the chest.
  4. on; on top of (located just above the surface of)
    • 2003, J. K. Rowling, Lya Wyler, Harry Potter e a Ordem da Fênix, Rocco, page 417:
      Então o sorriso reapareceu em seu rosto [...]
      Then the smile reappeared on his face [...]
    O livro está na mesa.
    The book is on the table.
  6. in; at (located in a location)
    Os soldados estão na Crimeia.
    The soldiers are in Crimea.
  8. in (part of; a member of)
    Só três jogadores ainda estão nesse time.
    Only three players are still in this team.
  10. in; into; inside (towards the inside of)
    A água entrou em várias casas.
    The water got into various houses.
  12. indicates the target of an action
    Quero dar um soco na tua cara.
    I want to punch you in the face.
    Mete um processo neles.
    Shove a lawsuit down their throats.
  14. in (pertaining to the particular thing)
    Ela não passou em inglês.
    She didn’t pass in English.
  16. in (immediately after a period of time)
    Entraremos em contato com você em duas semanas.
    We will get in contact with you in two weeks.
  18. in; during (within a period of time)
    O jornal será publicado no dia cinco.
    The newspaper will be published on the fifth.
  20. at; in (in a state of)
    Estamos em perigo!
    We’re in danger!
  22. in (indicates means, medium, format, genre or instrumentality)
    Fomos pagos em moeda estrangeira.
    We were paid in foreign currency.
  24. in (indicates a language, script, tone etc. of writing, speaking etc.)
    Li um livro em holandês.
    I read a book in Dutch.
  26. in (wearing)
    A moça em preto.
    The lady in black.
  28. (slang) indicates that the object deserves a given punishment
    Cadeia nele!
    He should be in jail! (literally: jail on him!)

Quotations[edit]

For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:em.

Synonyms[edit]

Usage notes[edit]

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:

Contractions of em
Em + article Combined form
em + o no
em + a na
em + os nos
em + as nas
em + um num
em + uma numa
em + uns nuns
em + umas numas
Em + pronoun Combined form
em + ela nela
em + elas nelas
em + ele nele
em + eles neles
Em + dem. pronoun Combined form
em + aquela naquela
em + aquelas naquelas
em + aquele naquele
em + aqueles naqueles
em + aquilo naquilo
em + esse nesse
em + essa nessa
em + esses nesses
em + essas nessas
em + este neste
em + esta nesta
em + estes nestes
em + estas nestas
em + isso nisso
em + isto nisto
em + outra noutra
em + outras noutras
em + outro noutro
em + outros noutros

Scots[edit]

Verb[edit]

em

  1. (South Scots) emphatic first-person singular simple present of ti be

See also[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • em.
  • e.m.
  • e. m.

Abbreviation[edit]

em

  1. pm (indicating hours in the afternoon); Abbreviation of eftermiddagen.

Usage notes[edit]

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

Antonyms[edit]

Tok Pisin[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English him.

Pronoun[edit]

em

  1. The third person singular pronoun 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 (in Tok Pisin), Port Moresby: Bible Society of Papua New Guinea, 1:15:
      (please add an English translation of this quote)

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

This entry has fewer than three known examples of actual usage, the minimum considered necessary for clear attestation, and may not be reliable. This language is subject to a special exemption for languages with limited documentation. If you speak it, please consider editing this entry or adding citations. See also Help and the Community Portal.

See also[edit]

Tok Pisin personal pronouns
singular dual trial plural
1st person mi mitupela (exclusive)
yumitupela (inclusive) 		mitripela (exclusive)
yumitripela (inclusive) 		mipela (exclusive)
yumipela, yumi (inclusive)
2nd person yu yutupela yutripela yupela
3rd person em tupela tripela ol

Torres Strait Creole[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English him.

Pronoun[edit]

em

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

Veps[edit]

Verb[edit]

em

  1. first-person plural present of ei

Vietnamese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Vietic *ʔɛːm, from Proto-Mon-Khmer *(sʔ)iəm; cognate with Pacoh a-em (“younger sibling”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

em (俺, 㛪, 腌)

  1. younger sibling

Derived terms[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

em (俺, 㛪, 腌)

  1. (familiar) I; me (when you speak to a person who is (presumably) not much older than you, your teacher, or if you're the female partner in a heterosexual relationship or marriage)
  2. (familiar) you (when you speak to a person who is (presumably) not much younger than you, or your student, or if you're the male partner in a heterosexual relationship or marriage)

Synonyms[edit]

  • (in teacher-student relationship): con

Adjective[edit]

em (俺, 㛪, 腌)

  1. small; smaller

See also[edit]

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