em
/ˈɛm/
"em" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“em” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,623 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,623
- frequency rank, English
- 2
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The name of the Latin script letter M/m.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | em |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛm/ |
| Letters | 2 |
| Frequency rank | #2,623 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “em” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for em is 2 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɛm/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,623 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for em in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ex", "et", "EU", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested since 1808. In typography, the em is named after the em quadrat (later called em quad), from m quadrat, a metal type used in letterpress typesetting, which is as wide as the point size of the font. The correct English form is em, spelled E-M.
Definition
- 1The name of the Latin script letter M/m.
- 2A unit of measurement equal to the height of the type in use.
- 3A relative unit of sizing defined in terms of the font size.
Etymology
Attested since 1808. In typography, the em is named after the em quadrat (later called em quad), from m quadrat, a metal type used in letterpress typesetting, which is as wide as the point size of the font.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “em”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɛm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ex” - see the side-by-side comparison. em vs ex
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.