em

Relative sizing unit

Em is a unit of measurement in typography, traditionally the width of a capital M in a given typeface.

It scales with font size—an em in 12-point type is 12 points.

Designers use ems for spacing, indentation, and the em dash (—).

In digital design, ems allow proportional sizing that adapts when users change text size.

typography

font

Character style set

serifLetter terminal flourish
sans-serifType without terminal strokes
glyphVisual form of character

kerning · ligature · typeface · italic · bold · typeset · leading · tracking · ascender · descender

measure

meter

Device that measures usage

rhythmPatterned stress and silence
cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
beatRhythmic pulse or strike

verse · poetry · prosody · scansion · pentameter · iambic · trochaic · spondee · dactyl · anapest

units

pica

Printing measurement unit

pointExact location or meaning
quadEnclosed campus lawn
pixelSmallest display unit

agate · nonpareil · pearl · ruby · minion · bourgeois

Categories

Informal Spellingsgonna, wanna, gotta, oughta, shoulda
Scrabble Wordsaa, ax, er, et, ex
dialect wordsthee, thou, thy, thine, thyself
Portuguese Prepositionsa, ante, ate, com, contra
Short Wordsact, a, add, I, bat
pronounsI, me, him, he, my

Opposites

typographic unit size

emen

Half-em space measure

pixel · point · pt · inch · centimeter

Phrases

knock em deadImpress spectacularly
stick em up
hold emShared-card poker variant
go get emEncouragement to attack
catch em all
Texas hold emCommunity card poker game

Family

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Rated G