em
/ˈɛm/noun, pronoun, interjection
em is spelled E-M: 2 letters and one syllable. It appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, em means “The name of the Latin script letter M/m” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of em is ems.
How many letters and syllables are in em?
| Letters | 2: E-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 37 times per million words; the 2,618th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is em?
Em appears 37 times per million words in written English, the 2,618th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce em?
- /ˈɛm/
As a pronoun (“A gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, the…”): /ɛm/.
As an interjection (“a form of hesitant speech, or an expression of uncertainty”): /ɛ(ː)m/.
Em has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-em.ogg, En-us-'em.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of em
- ems plural
- emself
- eir
- eirs
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does em mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The name of the Latin script letter M/m.
- 2
A unit of measurement equal to the height of the type in use.
Insert here a one-em dash or long dash.
- 3
A relative unit of sizing defined in terms of the font size.
- 4
The name of the letter м/М in Cyrillic alphabets.
interjection
- 1
IrelandScotlanda form of hesitant speech, or an expression of uncertainty
She was abused by, em... David, I think. That was his name, he's a real em... what's the word, narcissist. You should really stay away from him.
noun
- 1
Alternative letter-case form of em.
noun
- 1
Initialism of emergency medicine.
- 2
Abbreviation of electron microscope.
- 3
Abbreviation of electron microscopy.
- 4
Initialism of electromagnetism.
- 5
Initialism of electronic monitoring.
- 6
Initialism of emerging market.
- 7
Initialism of enlisted man.
- 8
Initialism of effective microorganism.
adjective
- 1
Abbreviation of electromagnetic.
pronoun
- 1
Alternative form of 'em.
- 2
nonstandardrareA gender-neutral third-person singular object pronoun, the objective case of ey or e, equivalent to the singular them and coordinate with him and her.
“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 with em? Tell me!”
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Em in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does em come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).